Wargame Shows Armed Forces' Progress in Joint Operation Ability: MOFA

 

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TAIPEI --- A recently concluded computer wargame showed that the armed forces have made remarkable progress in their joint operation capability, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Thursday.

 

MND officials made the remarks when they reported on the results of the computer wargame of the "Hankuang No. 22" series of military exercises at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Defense Committee. The live fire drills of the "Hankuang No. 22" exercise will be held later this year.

 

On April 24, the MND began a five-day, round-the-clock simulation of various scenarios, including a strategy of "shock and awe" used by the United States in Iraq, a "decapitation" strategy of assassinating the nation's leaders, and an attack aimed at paralyzing the nation's nerve centers by disrupting its communications systems.

 

The wargame demonstrated that the armed forces have made remarkable progress in their joint operation capability, with the Air Force and Navy coordinating effectively in an interception exercise, the officials reported.

 

The newly commissioned Kidd-class destroyers from the United States have also contributed a great deal to the command and control of the Navy fleet and to its anti-air capability, they continued.

 

In the wargame, Taiwan was barely able to maintain its combat ability after its missile sites, airfields and radar stations were seriously damaged in a first-wave attack by China using pilotless remote-control airplanes and missiles due to Taiwan's insufficient pre-warning system and counter-missile capability, the officials said.

 

The results of the wargame show that the arms procurement package from the United States is crucial to the nation's defense, referring to the MND's request for a package of six Patriot-PAC III anti-missile batteries, a squadron of 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft and eight diesel-fueled submarines that has been blocked by the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan for nearly two years.

 

They also reported that training of military personnel has largely been upgraded, thus enabling the personnel to operate sophisticated weaponry systems.

I may be overly awed by the numbers involved in the Chinese military but it seems to me even an island protected by S-300/400 SAMs or Patriot+Arrow wouldn't stand a chance against the onset of hostilities with China.

 

A warring party may be able to move armored reserves against a concentrated armor onslaught but missile warfare if executed half decently cannot be defended economically with current systems. You cannot shift anti-missile batteries even a hundred miles quickly enough to bring sufficient defense to an area facing concentrated missile attack and defended multiple areas against a greater than average threat will bleed any military dry.

 

I've long had the similar concerns about the longevity of expensive ships at sea. Is Taiwan better off with 20 SM-I armed ships or 4 Aegis ships with SM-II? It takes only four torpedoes to sink the entire Aegis fleet, at least 20 for the 'lesser' SM-I ships. I think the topic ties in well with Pete's LCS gaming. He is showing (unintentionally I think) that a LCS group costing a similar amount to one DD-X (or even less!) is much more surivable and more flexible as well.

 

The most notable comparison in my mind comes in F-15 vs F-16. The US would not buy all of the F-15s it wanted, the lower-end F-16 was built to round out the numbers. Granted the F-16 has been given many more upgrades that and capabilities than were planned but we haven't seen droves of F-16s being shot down as inferior instruments.

 

Maybe Taiwan should figure out a way to lie low in the initial onset, stow the antennas when the first launches are detected, and don't put them back up until the initial, indefensible missile assault is thru...

 

In rambling conclusion , there is a middle ground somewhere, the US has been incredibly poor at reaching the middle ground and I think Taiwan could be hamstringing itself by assuming that fewer high-cost platforms are really more valuable than swarms of low-cost platforms when the real missiles start flying.

Lawmakers Slam Military Simulation

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(Source: Taiwan Information Service; issued May 5, 2006)

 

 

Legislators blasted the annual computerized military simulation on Thursday, saying that the Ministry of National Defense was taking advantage of the military exercises to promote the arms procurement package that is currently languishing in the Legislature.

 

The MND noted, however, that the armed forces had made remarkable progress and defeated China in the simulation. MND Deputy Minister Chu Kai-sheng gave a report on the results of the computerized "Hankuang No. 22" military exercises, held from April 24 to 28, to the Legislature's National Defense Committee, but lawmakers were dissatisfied with it.

 

The MND simulated various scenarios in a five-day military exercise meant to simulate countermeasures against an attack from China's People's Liberation Army.

 

These included defenses against the PLA employing a shock-decapitative strategy, assassinating President Chen Shui-bian and disrupting Taiwan's governmental communication systems.

 

MND officials claimed the successful military drill was based on effective coordination between the Air force and Navy, adding that the newly commissioned Kidd-class destroyers from the U.S. had contributed to the computerized military drill.

 

The MND did not say how many people were killed or wounded in the simulation, but legislators quoted reports that said some 30,000 people would be killed or wounded in the scenario.

 

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-cher said the MND did not contemplate the possible effect on Taiwanese morale due to the number of those killed or wounded in the simulation.

 

Kuomintang Legislator Wu Ching-chih said that once China had used its some 900 missiles, Taiwan's citizens would pressure the government into surrendering. Although Taiwan won against China by narrow margin, he questioned whether the nation would survive.

 

KMT Legislator Liao Wan-ju criticized the MND for only focusing on how to cope with the PLA's decapitative mission where its forces had been centralized in northern Taiwan in the simulation. If China attacks central or southern Taiwan, the nation would not be able to defend itself successfully, she said.

 

People First Party Legislator Ku Chung-lien said that the MND did not give a detailed explanation of the results of the war game, demanding the ministry disclose the full details of the drill to the public as soon as possible.

 

Deputy Minister Chu said the MND had centralized its military force in Taipei during the drill in accordance with rational military strategy. If China attacks northern and southern Taiwan, he said he was confident of countering the advance, adding that the MND is also ready to deploy its forces in southern Taiwan.

 

But Chu did acknowledge that the MND did not take morale into account and had not focused on what would happen in the case of continuous attacks during the simulations. Chu said the reports about the number of wounded or killed in the simulations were inaccurate, but he did not further elaborate.

 

The MND said the results of the simulation showed that it is important for Taiwan to purchase the arms package from the United States. The MND's military procurement plan refers to a package of six Patriot-PAC anti-missile batteries, a squadron of 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft and eight diesel-fueled submarines.

 

KMT Legislator Ker Chun-hsiung said the MND had flaunted the results of the military drill to urge lawmakers to support the arms purchase.