Taiwan holds first military drill at Taoyuan airport

Participating in the military exercise at Taoyuan International Airport were members of two teams, including the red team, which played the role of the attacking force, and the blue team, which was deployed to repel the airport takeover, according to CNA news agency citing a statement from Taiwan's Defense Ministry.

During the 40-minute exercise, the red team arrived at the airport in four UH-60M Black Hawk military helicopters and participated in a simulated attack, while the blue team, consisting of infantrymen, air police and airport firefighters, defended Taoyuan International Airport.

Black Hawk helicopters prepare to land at Taoyuan International Airport (Taiwan) during a drill on July 26.

The red team also simulated a bomb attack at the airport, and the blue team's airport firefighters used two Oshkosh Striker 3000 fire trucks to extinguish the explosives, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry added that the exercise was designed to test the armed forces' inter-agency coordination and emergency response capabilities in a simulated Chinese attack.

Similar drills have been held at other airports in Taiwan before but never at Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan's busiest civilian airport in Taoyuan City.

When Taiwan's Defense Ministry first announced the drill plan, Taiwan's Transportation Minister Wang Guo-cai said the exercise would last an hour and could potentially affect at least 61 flights and more than 4,000 passengers.

Today, the drill was cut to 40 minutes and Taiwan's Defense Ministry said the cut in drill time was so that no scheduled flights would be delayed or affected by the drill.

Taiwan's defense forces also planned to hold an emergency takeoff and landing drill at a civilian airport in southeastern Taiwan on July 25 but canceled it on July 24 due to Typhoon Doksuri.

The above drills are part of the live-fire exercise part of the annual Han Quang exercise, which began on July 24.

The annual Han Kuang exercises, which have served as Taiwan's major military exercise since 1984, are designed to test Taiwan's combat readiness against a potential Chinese attack.

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