DEFENSE/Taiwan launches joint defense drill featuring Marine Corps deployment

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Taiwan's military on Monday launched a joint defense exercise featuring Marine Corps mobilization operations to reinforce the Taipei metropolitan area.

The five-day exercise simulates scenarios including the detection of hostile vessels entering Taiwan's territorial waters, with a focus on integrating the capabilities of the three military branches and improving joint operations.

It also tests decentralized command structures and command-and-control mechanisms.

A key component of the exercise involved Marine Corps units conducting mobile reinforcement operations, with dozens of military vehicles, including trucks, field ambulances and communications vehicles, moving out from southern Taiwan before arriving in Taipei's Nangang District and New Taipei's Xizhi District in the morning to establish temporary command posts and conduct reconnaissance.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told CNA that the exercise is designed to test whether operational commands can maintain independent operations while using distributed and decentralized command mechanisms.

He noted that the drill is at a higher level than immediate combat readiness exercises conducted separately by individual services because it is integrated by operational commands, although it still remains below the Han Kuang exercise, Taiwan's highest-level annual military drill.

Su said the Marine Corps has significantly improved its capabilities in recent years through modernization efforts, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and portable Stinger missiles, while also upgrading individual equipment and improving interoperability with partner countries.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the matter said that under Taiwan's defense strategy, such units are not assigned to a single operational area but instead tasked with protecting key government and economic centers.

The source added that the goal is to build a defense line for the greater Taipei area through cross-regional reinforcements and enable the forces to deliver critical firepower in response to threats.

In a statement issued Sunday, the Ministry of National Defense said the five-day drill is aimed at training participating units to conduct joint operations under a decentralized command-and-control system while strengthening coordination and cooperation among the military branches.