ROC President Ma Ying-jeou lauded commanders and troops for their technical and tactical prowess following a large-scale, live-fire military exercise June 7 in the southern Taiwan county of Pingtung.
Nearly 1,000 personnel from the ROC army, navy and air force took part in the 43-minute military exercise, one of three regularly held combined forces drills, including primarily forces from the 584th armored brigade and 601st air cavalry brigade.
After observing the exercises, Ma stressed that national defense is a key to the ROC’s continued existence. “The government has been pursuing a three-pronged strategy to enhance the nation’s stability and long-term security by institutionalizing cross-strait relations, increasing Taiwan’s contribution to the international community, and combining national defense and diplomacy,” he said.
“We are not looking for war, but we will not back down if threatened,” the president added.
Ma pointed out that the government has achieved many advances over the past four years in developing the domestic defense industry, modernizing the nation’s armed forces and training disaster and relief personnel.
Over the next four years, he continued, the government will continue seeking to purchase military hardware abroad that it cannot produce at home and working to create a more efficient, leaner and professional fighting force to boost the nation’s defense capabilities.
Ma said the admirable success of the day’s live-fire drill illustrated that regular military exercises have borne excellent results in terms of honing the skills and fighting capabilities of the nation’s armed forces.
The exercise included air attacks, the shelling of machine gun positions and defenses against poisonous gas and electromagnetic interference, along with other maneuvers.
A military official noted that more than 95 percent of targets were hit in the live-fire drill, including a 100-percent success rate for the four third-generation FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles fired during the exercise. (SB-THN)