Taiwan ramps up war‑gaming

Taiwan has started this year’s Han Kuang war games with a more American-style approach, shifting the focus from scripted displays to battlefield rehearsal. (focustaiwan.tw) The 42nd Han Kuang exercises began on April 11 and the tabletop phase runs through April 24, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense. Officials said the drills are testing four methods used by the United States military: Combined Arms Rehearsal, confirmation briefs, support rehearsals, and battle-drill or standard-operating-procedure rehearsals. (focustaiwan.tw) In practice, that means commanders are asking subordinate units to explain back how they will carry out missions, while combat, fire-support, and logistics units rehearse how they would move together under pressure. The ministry is also running the war game on the United States-built Joint Theater Level Simulation system and keeping the exercise active around the clock. (taipeitimes.com) (rti.org.tw) Taiwan’s defense officials say the scenario starts with Chinese military pressure short of war and then tests what happens if those actions turn into an actual attack. Major General Tung Chi-hsing said the simulation covers early warning, joint intelligence, drone threats, electromagnetic interference, air defense, and attempts to seize ports and airports before pushing inland. (taipeitimes.com) (rti.org.tw) That is a change from older Han Kuang drills, which critics inside and outside Taiwan had long described as too scripted and too focused on satisfying senior officers. Su Tzu-yun of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research said recent exercises have become more practical and are giving different branches more room to test how their plans fit together. (focustaiwan.tw) (usni.org) Taiwan is also bringing military intelligence units into the tabletop war games for the first time this year. Su said that follows United States practice and should help frontline forces combine intelligence with radar and reconnaissance data to make faster targeting and support decisions. (focustaiwan.tw) The broader shift started before this month’s drills. In 2025, Taiwan doubled the live-fire phase to 10 days and nine nights, after extending the computerized war-game phase to two weeks for the first time, and the ministry kept the tabletop segment at 14 days again this year. (taipeitimes.com 1) (taipeitimes.com 2) Those longer 2025 drills also moved beyond beachhead fighting into urban defense and whole-of-society mobilization, with reserve forces and civilian agencies folded into the exercise. This year’s command-post war game again includes reserve mobilization and coordination with the Central Joint Response Center, showing Taiwan is training for a campaign that would stretch beyond the first strike. (taipeitimes.com 1) (taipeitimes.com 2) The live-fire dates for Han Kuang 42 have not been announced, but Defense Minister Wellington Koo has said the summer field phase is expected to run 10 days and nine nights again. For now, Taiwan’s military is using the April war game to make units explain, rehearse, and coordinate before they have to move for real. (taipeitimes.com)