Overview

• The 10-day Han Kuang drills began on July 9 with a record mobilisation of 22,000 reservists, marking Taiwan’s most extensive defence exercise to date.
• Exercises incorporate new US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, M1A2 Abrams tanks and Taiwan’s Sky Sword missiles in simulated coastal defence and precision-strike scenarios.
• Early stages simulate crippling cyber and communications attacks to test decentralized command resilience under grey zone tactics and full-scale invasion threats.
• By 6am on launch day, Taiwan’s defence ministry reported tracking 31 PLA aircraft sorties and seven vessels operating near its airspace and waters.
• China dismissed the drills as a bluff and imposed export controls on eight Taiwanese firms, while Defence Minister Wellington Koo said the exercises signal Taiwan’s resolve to protect its democracy.