Taipei Times
Date: Jan 18, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
A pre-Lunar New Year holiday military exercise was held in Taichung yesterday to
A member of the army’s skydiving team trails smoke during a parachute display in Taichung yesterday to highlight the armed forces’ heightened readiness over the Lunar New Year holiday. Photo: CNA
simulate a landing by Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) amphibious units, with the nation’s first female attack-helicopter pilot participating in the drill.
The exercise simulated a PLA naval formation of destroyers, amphibious vessels and escort ships conducting a training drill in the Taiwan Strait, but abruptly crossing the median line between Taiwan and China, with ship-borne helicopters launching an attack to seize key military infrastructure in Taiwan.
The exercise came a week after China’s first and only aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
The exercise saw coordinated operations by the army’s tank battalions and aviation units, while the 10th Army Command dispatched M109 howitzers, M60A3 main battle tanks, CM33 Clouded Leopard armored vehicles, AH-1W Super Cobras and UH-60M Black Hawks to repel the mock enemy units and retake occupied facilities.
The Clouded Leopards displayed their ability to mount steep slopes, with M60A3 tanks rumbling over a car used as an enemy barricade. [FULL STORY]
