TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Army on Tuesday conducted a joint combat readiness exercise in Taichung simulating a Chinese attack.

Units from the 10th Army Corps took part in the drills in Taichung’s Xinshe District, including the 586th Combined Arms Brigade, the 58th Artillery Command, and the 602nd Aviation Brigade, per CNA. In the exercise scenario, a PLA Type 075 amphibious assault ship was carrying two Z-8 transport helicopters and four Z-10 attack helicopters near the Taiwan Strait median line. The helicopters took off from the ship and headed toward central Taiwan.

The military’s Theater Air Defense Operations Center ordered an air defense platoon, comprising Sky Sword II launch vehicles and mobile command-and-control and radar systems, to engage the enemy, CNA reported. AH-1W Cobra helicopters, acting as the enemy force, carried out a simulated strike on the airfield.

Troops acting as Chinese collaborators in Taiwan drove modified vehicles onto Xinshe airfield and guided the Z-8 transport helicopters along the Dajia River valley to conduct an air assault.

A rapid response force from the 602nd Aviation Brigade engaged troops acting as PLA soldiers, who fast-roped from Blackhawk helicopters. A UAV battalion from the 58th Artillery Command carried out precision strikes on the opposing force using attack drones.

M60A3 Patton tanks from the 586th Combined Arms Brigade entered Xinshe airfield, along with Clouded Leopard armored vehicles and ambulances, to eliminate enemy troops and evacuate casualties.

Taiwanese radar intelligence later indicated an unidentified PLA ship group attempting to land on Wangan and Qimei islands in Penghu, which falls under the military’s First Theater of Operations. The Joint Operations Command Center ordered HIMARS to support the First Theater of Operations by providing rocket fire.

The exercise follows the Army’s redesignation of its armored and mechanized infantry brigades as combined arms brigades to align with force-building plans and boost defensive combat capabilities, per CNA. The change, implemented this month, is intended to provide more flexible organization and deployment.

The Army previously had four armored brigades and three mechanized infantry brigades deployed in Taiwan’s north, west, and south. The original unit numbers are retained, but they will be collectively referred to as combined arms brigades.