Taiwan on Wednesday tested its defences in live-fire drills simulating an invasion by rival China as part of the island's biggest ever wargames, the defence ministry said.
The scenario being played out during the manoeuvres - part of five-day wargames codenamed "Han Kuang 23" - was that a fleet of Chinese warships were found crossing the middle of the Taiwan Strait approaching northern Taiwan. In deterring the "attack," Taiwan armed forces showcased sophisticated weaponry during an hour-long, live-fire exercise near the north-eastern Suao harbour.
The forces for the first time tested the power of a US-made Standard II air defence missile, which was launched from a Kidd-class destroyer to eliminate a target.
The surface-to-air missiles have a range of 144 kilometres (90 miles) and vastly outperform the Standard I missiles deployed on Taiwan's Perry-class frigates. A French-made Mirage 2000-5 fighter released flares in a standard operation to duck possible missile attacks after it fired a Magic missile to hit a drone - a pilotless airplane used as a mock enemy plane.
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