President Lai Ching-te boarded a Kuang Hua VI missile boat on Friday as Taiwan's Han Kuang 42 exercises entered their fourth day, observing a simulated coastal strike after the island launched its largest annual military drills earlier this week.
From the naval base in Zuoying, Lai watched as the Coast Guard's Anping-class vessel led a flotilla of missile boats on an emergency sortie, while marine corps units deployed four M109 special operations assault craft off Taoyuan beach. The marines also publicly demonstrated fixed-wing loitering munitions and FPV attack drones for the first time. The newly established Coastal Operations Command, formed on 1 July, participated in the exercises for the first time.
The 10-day drills, which simulate a response to a Chinese invasion, also saw Thunder 2000 multiple rocket launchers conduct live-fire strikes against simulated landing convoys in Taoyuan, and M60A3 tanks seal off an ammunition depot during a counter-sabotage exercise.