Live-fire test to be held near Pingtung this week
By Lo Tien-bin / Staff reporter
The military is holding live-fire drills featuring missiles, rockets and drones, involving all service branches and the coast guard at Jioupeng Base (九鵬基地) in Pingtung County this week, a source said.
The exercise is expected to involve Patriot, Tian Kung (Sky Bow, 天弓), Hsiung Feng (Brave Wind, 雄風) and Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles to practice long-range precision strike capabilities, they said
Coast guard vessels would fire anti-ship missiles to drill the joint combat capabilities of the armed forces and the coast guard in wartime.
A Hsiung Feng III medium-range supersonic missile is launched from a Tuo Jiang-class corvette in an undated photograph.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency
With the exercise hosted annually on an rotating basis by the navy and air force, this year’s exercise is hosted by the navy, and a live-fire warning notice for sea and air targets was issued for the exercise area, which covers a large area off the east coast, the source said.
The navy’s announcement said three areas are designated for this exercise.
Zone 1 stretches from the sea east of Taimali (太麻里) in Taitung County, to Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) in Pingtung County.
Zone 2 extends from the boundary between Taitung and Pingtung to the sea east of Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (蘭嶼).
Zone 3 is in the sea east of Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) and Taimali.
The restricted sea and air zones are the same as those used in drills for the past three years.
Although the announcement only mentioned sea and air targets, without going into the specifics, the source said fighter jets, helicopters and drones would enter the area.
A military source said the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) rocket artillery, with its 300km range, and the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile, a major air defense system for western countries, are unlikely to be used for this exercise.
The military is expected to incorporate HIMARS batteries into future drills, they said.
The Patriot missile would not be featured in this live-fire exercise unless approved by the US, for two reasons, they said.
The first is to deny unfriendly observers a chance to see it in flight, as firing missiles could allow potential adversaries to gather performance data with reconnaissance or intelligence-gathering aircraft or vessels. The second is cost, as each missile fired costs more than NT$100 million (US$3.16 million), the source said.
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