TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's military has launched its most extensive command post simulation in recent years, running complex war game scenarios that extend through mid-April. The Ministry of National Defense (MND, 國防部) initiated the two-week computer-aided exercise, dubbed "Han Kuang 41" (漢光41號), which will continue until next Friday (April 18). This virtual combat simulation builds upon a strategic tabletop exercise conducted by senior defense officials in February and focuses on responding to various threat scenarios, including China's "gray zone" warfare tactics — actions that fall below the threshold of conventional armed conflict—and a hypothetical full-scale invasion by the People's Liberation Army projected for 2027.
Following the command post simulations, defense officials have scheduled an unprecedented live-fire exercise for July that will stretch across ten days and nine nights — the longest such drill in Taiwan's history. The extended field operations will serve as a critical test of the island's reserve mobilization systems, with military planners expecting more than 20,000 civilian reservists to be called up for active participation. The Army's 206th Infantry Brigade has been designated for complete mobilization during the exercise, a move that defense strategists describe as a practical demonstration of Taiwan's increasingly robust defensive readiness posture and its ability to rapidly expand military capacity in crisis scenarios.
Military planners have set the expansive live-fire exercises to run from July 9 to 18, creating a comprehensive operational environment that will integrate personnel and equipment from across Taiwan's armed forces. The drills will incorporate actual live ammunition components in selected training scenarios, adding realism to the combat simulations. Senior commanders are developing tactically complex and geographically diverse scenarios that will coordinate movements of Army, Navy, and Air Force units throughout Taiwan's main island and its surrounding territorial waters and airspace, creating a multi-domain defensive exercise that mirrors potential conflict conditions.
Defense officials highlighted a steady year-over-year expansion in reservist participation in the Han Kuang exercise series, reflecting Taiwan's growing emphasis on civilian defense preparedness. The previous year's drills incorporated approximately 14,000 reserve personnel, while this year's exercises will mobilize over 20,000 civilian reservists — a significant increase that demonstrates the island's commitment to strengthening its defensive depth. Many of these citizen-soldiers will participate in an enhanced 14-day "new-style" recall training program that represents a substantial evolution from traditional reserve exercises, with intensified focus on practical combat readiness and hands-on live-fire training to develop battlefield skills that could prove critical in actual conflict scenarios.
