DEFENSE/Taiwan holds anti-landing drill on Penghu on Day 3 of Han Kuang

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) Troops stationed on the offshore Penghu Islands held an anti-landing drill early Wednesday featuring the United States-made Stinger and Javelin missile defense systems as part of the ongoing Han Kuang exercises.

Army Penghu Defense Command troops fired from the Dual Mount Stinger, a tripod-mounted launch platform for the Stinger Missile, and used Javelin portable anti-tank missiles during the drill held on the beachfront on Wednesday morning.

Soldiers also fired 155, 105 mm guns and 120 mm mortars during the hour-long drill. This served as covering fire to protect troops as M60A3 tanks and CM-21 armored vehicles advanced on the battlefield.

Wednesday's drill was also supposed to include Air Force jets and naval vessels, but they did not participate due to the incoming Typhoon Gaemi.

Similar live-fire exercises were also held on the Matsu Islands the same day.

Meanwhile, live-fire exercises were canceled in Kinmen, less than 10 kilometers from mainland China, because more than 30 merchant vessels were heading to Liaoluo Port so they could anchor and shelter from the typhoon.

Maj. Gen. Cheng Chieh-yuan (鄭傑元), a spokesman for the Army's Kinmen Defense Command, told reporters that the exercises were called off due to the vessels being in the target area.

Wednesday was the third day of the five-day around-the-clock live-fire component of the 40th Han Kuang series of exercises that began on Monday.

Due to the approaching Typhoon Gaemi, which is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to almost all of Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Wednesday said that all exercises scheduled for the remaining days would be canceled to focus on typhoon disaster preparation.

Instead of holding on-the-ground drills, the MND said Taiwanese troops would hold tabletop war games.

The annual Han Kuang exercises, which have served as Taiwan's major war games since 1984, consist of live-fire drills and computerized war games and seek to test Taiwan's combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.

This year's tabletop exercises were staged in April.