TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Navy’s five-day Sea Power Exercise begins Monday in waters around Taiwan, per CNA.
This year’s drills will cover joint interception, firefighting, combat damage control, tactical formation maneuvers, aerial refueling, and partial live-fire missions.
The Coast Guard Administration will also participate to verify its ability to transition from peacetime to wartime operations, though it will not conduct live-fire drills. The CGA’s 600-tonne Anping-class patrol vessels are based on the Navy’s Tuo Chiang-class corvette.
They are equipped with Sea Oryx rockets and can be refitted to carry Hsiung Feng missiles during wartime.
The Navy said it would carry out a drill Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in waters west of Kaohsiung and Pingtung. One P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft and one S-70C anti-submarine helicopter will fly at altitudes of 4,000 feet and below 1,000 feet, respectively, to simulate anti-submarine operations.
Four designated maritime zones have been set up around Taiwan for Navy drills: south of Penghu, northeast of Keelung, west of Kaohsiung’s Zuoying area, and northwest of Penghu. A maximum firing altitude has been set between 1,000 and 25,000 feet.
