Overview

• Taiwan has mobilized 22,000 reservists for its longest Han Kuang drills to date, extending maneuvers to ten days and nine nights with a 14-day training requirement for reservists.
• For the first time, live-fire scenarios will involve US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems alongside Abrams tanks in separate tank exercises on Taiwan’s east coast.
• Troops will practice gray-zone harassment tactics and long-range precision strikes aimed at deterring a potential Chinese invasion projected by 2027.
• President Lai Ching-te’s islandwide tour coincides with the exercises to rally domestic unity and signal Taiwan’s resolve to international partners.
• The drills respond to stepped-up PLA pressure characterized by carrier transits, warship deployments and live-fire exercises in the Taiwan Strait while Taiwan expands asymmetric capabilities such as drones.