TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Navy held drills at Taoziyuan Beach in Kaohsiung to boost its coastal defense capabilities.

A littoral strike group first simulated detecting an unidentified vessel loitering in nearby waters, CNA reported. The Navy launched an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) drone, while troops from the Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit boarded an M109 assault boat to intercept, inspect, and drive the vessel away.

The Navy then simulated a mobile radar detecting an enemy ship formation. The littoral strike group launched a land-based ISR drone to confirm the activity.

Hsiung Feng missile launchers were deployed, and Kuang Hua VI missile boats simulated launches in a coordinated attack on the enemy formation. The land-based ISR drone then conducted battle damage assessment.

The Marine Corps then launched a Ching Feng 1 attack drone from the shore and another from a speedboat, simulating attacks on targets representing enemy amphibious vehicles. The attack drone launched from the sea struck its target, but the one launched from shore crashed into the beach. Another Ching Feng drone was launched and hit its target.

Later, snipers from the Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit’s special operations company, armed with T112 heavy sniper rifles, positioned themselves to simulate targeting a commander within an enemy landing force. The Navy then eliminated the remaining enemy forces using underwater and onshore demolitions.

The Navy said the drills focused on countering an enemy amphibious assault. It said it used ISR drones to strengthen maritime and battlefield awareness, and combined coastal forces with attack drones to conduct near-shore strikes, building a kill chain for joint interdiction missions.