In recent times, Taiwan’s army points have obtained appreciable dialogue, from adjustments in Taiwan’s annual large-scale Han Kuang workout routines to suggestions on tools procurement. These are all fairly necessary areas of change, however essentially the most core challenge appears to have obtained a lot much less dialogue: how precisely the Taiwan army might battle. The aforementioned adjustments in workout routines and tools procurement, ultimately, are all meant to serve the type of conflict Taiwan is ready to battle. Taiwan has had some developments on this space which have obtained restricted consideration and dialogue, however their significance is certainly at least the developments in workout routines and tools.
The hot button is to comprehensively perceive Taiwan’s efforts and preparations from the strategic stage, utilizing what the Taiwan army most frequently says about what sort of conflict to battle, what tools to have, what sort of power construction is required, and what coaching to conduct. Taiwan has moved from its previous ideas of defeating the enemy on the alternative shore or in search of a decisive battle within the littoral space to really finishing up an erosion technique and sustained operations in recent times. To that finish, Taiwan has continued to strengthen the military’s active-duty fight energy within the northern area to construct a layered defensive community and regional power superiority. In the meantime, the cumulative period of large-scale workout routines in 2026 has already accrued to just about one month. There’s additionally one thing that many individuals might need seen however not realized: the numerous growth of Taiwan’s navy in recent times.
On the similar time, these developments additionally carry out the present difficulties Taiwan faces in joint operations throughout the companies. This is without doubt one of the most important areas to observe in Taiwan’s future protection improvement. In recent times, specialists have paid appreciable consideration to the Taiwan army’s efforts towards decentralization, however in follow, joint command and management is the important thing as to if Taiwan’s fight functionality will be improved.
Additional Focus of Forces in Northern Taiwan
The important thing to an erosion technique and sustained operations is to delay and strike enemy forces by means of layered forces. Though Taiwan emphasizes decentralized command and management, this implies emphasizing {that a} single operational unit can proceed to hold out assigned actions primarily based on higher-level operational aims when command and management is disrupted. By way of army operations, strategically concentrating forces to make it tough for the enemy to interrupt by means of and advance is kind of necessary. And that is additionally what Taiwan is doing.
Northern Taiwan is the place the political heart is situated, and it additionally concentrates necessary operational command organizations and transportation hubs. A couple of-third of Taiwan’s inhabitants lives there. Greater than about half of the Taiwan active-duty brigade-level forces of the Republic of China (ROC) Military and Marine Corps are usually stationed within the northern area (north of Miaoli and Yilan), together with the primary fight forces, mixed arms brigades, Military Aviation items, and Marine Corps forces.
Particularly, in recent times Taiwan has continued throughout workout routines to moreover transfer items from different areas into the northern area to conduct reinforcement missions. This makes the forces concentrated within the northern area probably attain almost two-thirds of Taiwan’s active-duty floor forces. In the course of the 2025 Han Kuang Train, the primary reinforcement was carried out by items from the Marine Corps 99th Brigade shifting north from southern Taiwan to strengthen Taoyuan and the larger Taipei space. The 2026 Han Kuang Train additional expanded the reinforcement forces, together with forces beneath the Marine Corps 99th Brigade and Military 564th Mixed Arms Brigade from southern Taiwan, and the Military 586th Mixed Arms Brigade from central Taiwan, which moved and deployed to the northern area.
Map by Okay. Tristan Tang and H. Rion Wu primarily based on info collected and compiled from Army Information Company and Liberty Occasions.
This type of deployment and coaching concentrates forces in northern Taiwan and is, to a substantial diploma, a spotlight of Taiwan’s present sustained defensive operations. In September 2026, throughout the ROC Military’s annual large-scale Lu Sheng train, Maj. Gen. Lin Shih-wei, deputy commander of the Military Training, Coaching, and Doctrine Improvement Command, clearly acknowledged at a press convention that this train was centered on the idea of successive resistance and sustained operations beneath Chief of the Common Employees Admiral Mei Chia-shu’s erosion technique. Most significantly, the train space was modified to northern Taiwan to be able to conform with the deal with defensive operations and permit troops to turn into acquainted with key terrain within the space of operations and the deployment and employment of troops and firepower.
Almost One Month of Massive-Scale Army Workout routines
One other improvement deserving extra consideration is that in recent times the Taiwan army has begun extending the coaching period of varied live-force workout routines. Along with extending present workout routines such because the nationwide Han Kuang train and the brigade-level Lu Sheng train, it has additionally added a number of large-scale workout routines.
The accrued time of those army workout routines has led the Taiwan army this 12 months to spend virtually a complete month collaborating in varied live-force workout routines, excess of previously few years. This consists of the five-day Speedy Fight Readiness Train in June, the five-day Joint Protection Train in July, the 10-day Han Kuang Train in August, and the 10-day Lu Sheng Train anticipated in October.
Moreover permitting items to have extra time to finish steady coaching occasions that might not be carried out previously, this additionally permits collaborating items to turn into acquainted with eventualities associated to long-duration sustained operations throughout a future Taiwan battle. The longer coaching and train period permits items to validate operations beneath extended fight eventualities, in addition to the upkeep of fight functionality and coordination with civilian sectors in the usage of civilian sources, together with manpower and materials mobilization.
Taiwanese Navy’s Expanded Mission
One other facet value consideration in recent times is that the ROC Navy has been taking part in increasingly roles in Taiwan’s present defensive operations. Up to now, the Taiwan authorities primarily deliberate naval items in wartime as fleet job forces. In recent times, there have been three notable adjustments.
First, the Marine Corps beneath the Navy has undergone a serious transformation in recent times, shifting from a power chargeable for offensive amphibious operations and energy projection previously to a defensive power for city areas. In recent times, Taiwan’s Marine Corps has steadily given up its tanks and self-propelled artillery in favor of drones and anti-tank tools. Because the strategic reserve immediately beneath the Common Employees Headquarters, the Marine Corps has been deployed to the Taipei space, with its mission shifting to turn into a defensive power for the capital garrison space.
Second, the ROC Navy this 12 months established a brand new Coastal Operations Command inside the service. Its commander holds the identical vice admiral rank because the Fleet Command commander, and it integrates items associated to shore-based anti-ship missiles, shore-based radar, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and unmanned aerial methods, with the purpose of building a coastal operations system throughout items and platforms.
Third, Taiwan’s Coast Guard this 12 months added one new deputy director-general place, and in late September formally appointed a vice admiral from the Navy to the place. The aim is to carry the Navy’s tactical pondering into the Coast Guard, inject key new momentum into the Coast Guard’s transition from peacetime to wartime, successfully join communication channels between the army and Coast Guard, and deepen joint maritime-air protection and response mechanisms.
As well as, Taiwan’s Coast Guard has additionally begun, throughout the army’s annual workout routines, to broaden coaching occasions associated to the transition from peacetime to wartime, permitting its Coast Guard vessels to undertake a part of the sea-denial strike missions throughout wartime. Particularly, this 12 months’s Han Kuang train had the Coast Guard conduct workout routines beneath the management of the Navy’s Coastal Operations Command.
These adjustments all present that the ROC Navy is taking part in an more and more necessary position in Taiwan’s present defensive operations. This consists of sea denial and coastal operations, and in addition consists of the capital garrison mission throughout the defense-in-depth part.
Coverage Implications
Taiwan’s present protection preparations are usually not solely adjustments in ideas and efforts in tools procurement, however have additionally seen fairly vital developments in army coaching and deployment validation. Extra importantly, because the comparatively weaker facet within the cross-strait army stability, Taiwan should essentially focus its sources to a larger diploma and use them extra effectively. Due to this fact, we are able to additionally discover that there’s now extra Navy involvement in maritime and coastal denial operations, and even within the land-based attrition technique and the defense-in-depth part. The Coast Guard can also be working towards the transition from peacetime to wartime,
However on the similar time, these adjustments additionally level to a extra essential space to look at sooner or later, which is whether or not Taiwan’s joint operations throughout the companies, particularly its command and management preparations, are in place. Up to now, land operations had been normally thought of one thing for the Military to deal with by itself. In a hypothetical state of affairs the place the Individuals’s Liberation Military (PLA) would be capable of conduct an amphibious assault on Taiwan after which offload follow-on forces, it was sometimes assumed to imply that Taiwan’s air and naval fight energy had already been largely paralyzed, whereas China had air and sea superiority. Now, this case has modified to a substantial diploma. Navy shore-based items and Air Pressure air protection items can even play necessary roles throughout the defense-in-depth part, and subsequently preparations for joint operations turn into fairly necessary.
The primary query mark is the joint command and management functionality beneath the focus of enormous numbers of forces, together with Military and Navy forces concentrated within the northern area, in addition to Air Pressure air protection property. Environment friendly command and management of various items in conducting joint operations is kind of essential.
Second, and much more essential, is whether or not Taiwan can improve the capability of its joint operations coaching. The Taiwanese army’s solely Joint Operations Coaching Base has restricted coaching capability. Due to geographic house limitations and the necessity to keep away from disturbing close by residents, it could actually normally solely present battalion-level coaching. The ROC Navy, Military Aviation, and Air Pressure even have problem collaborating collectively as fashioned items in workout routines due to the restricted airspace. Though annual large-scale workout routines can validate and practice service members’ means to conduct joint operations, in follow they can’t absolutely change primary joint operations coaching.
Taiwan has far fewer sources in contrast with China, so joint operations functionality is essential to permitting Taiwan’s fight energy for use extra effectively. That is additionally a key space of Taiwan-U.S. army cooperation. In January 2026, media reviews acknowledged that U.S. personnel had been stationed at Taiwan’s Ministry of Nationwide Protection Joint Firepower Coordination Heart, which is chargeable for cross-service fires deployment and coordination, and that joint workers work had reportedly already been carried out.
It is very important know that decentralization is a key functionality when the command and management system is minimize off, to be able to keep operational resilience. However for Taiwan, within the occasion of conflict, one of the best state of affairs for resisting a Chinese language invasion to the best extent ought to be to have a sound joint operations functionality, in order that sources will be transformed into fight energy to the best extent. Due to this fact, though specialists in recent times have paid appreciable consideration to the Taiwan army’s efforts towards decentralization, joint operations functionality can also be essential.