00:00Five days of combat readiness exercises were on day three on Wednesday, focusing on maritime operations.
00:06The Army's 53rd Engineering Corps set up multi-layered defensive line on the Danxuei River, a key access point to
00:12Taipei.
00:13Floating barriers, anti-landing obstacles, fishing nets, all supported by tanks closely watching from the shore.
00:30The mouth of the Danxuei River leads from the Taiwan Strait right into central Taipei, making its defense a priority.
00:37Wednesday's exercises specifically practice how to stop Chinese hovercraft and fast assault boats from making it to the capital.
00:42To repel such an attack, rapid response times are vital.
01:02In central Taiwan, the Army fired HIMARS rocket systems, a first for this type of exercise, with their precision strikes
01:07capable of hitting up to 300 kilometers.
01:10In an invasion, HIMARS rockets could hit ships in the Taiwan Strait or even reach targets in China.
01:15That would likely make the launchers priority targets.
01:18So Wednesday's drill was all about how units could rapidly fire, disperse, and relocate to minimize enemy detection.
01:23All of this comes against the backdrop of China's newest aircraft carrier, the Futian, transiting the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday.
01:30Experts underscored how the Futian, along with China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, highlight China's increasing naval capabilities.
01:51With two more days of exercises this week, an even bigger drill scheduled for later in the summer,
01:56it's clear Taiwan's military is aware of the threat it faces and is preparing to respond.
02:00John Tsu and Larry Siano for Taiwan Plus.
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