Kinmen troops fire tanks and artillery at sea and air targets in quarterly Taiwu drill

Taiwan's Kinmen Defense Command carried out its fourth-quarter Taiwu live-fire exercise early on 3 November, sending tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery against simulated sea and air targets from forward positions on Kinmen and waters off the island's southern coast during the morning shoot window.

The command said the Kinmen Garrison Battalion led the shoot, practising support for friendly forces, reinforcement moves, field air defence and counter-special-forces fighting while unexpected amphibious-landing and special-operations scenarios were injected to train responses to grey-zone pressure around the islands.

Weapons listed by the command included 20 mm cannons, 4.2-inch and 120 mm mortars, 105 mm howitzers and tank guns, 155 mm guns and eight-inch howitzers. Crews dispersed the guns to weave overlapping fire and cover armoured vehicle movement in static and successive shoots across the training area on Kinmen.

Military News Agency photographs and the Kinmen command release show M60A3 tanks moving into firing positions and using their 105 mm guns against maritime targets during the shoot.

Air-defence units and the Beiding garrison joined the garrison battalion, adding protective fire and coordinating the defence. All participating units used the Team Awareness Kit to keep command links and shared awareness during the drill, the command said.

Kinmen sits less than 10 kilometres from China's Fujian coast and about 190 kilometres from Taiwan's main island. The command framed the quarterly shoot as combat-realistic training meant to raise readiness and the ability to react quickly under multiple threats.

CNA reported the exercise as the command's fourth-quarter Taiwu series, with troops working from positions around Fengshang and Houhu waters. Officials said the six-real training method was used so units would rehearse command procedures and combined-arms coordination under sudden scenarios.

Liberty Times Net's defence channel reported the same Taiwu shoot, noting that the command cast the drill as practice against landings and special attacks while stressing that front-line units keep training to hold the islands.

According to the Military News Agency account, the shoot was meant to verify island-group fighting concepts as well as unit readiness, with batteries and armour working together to block an invading force before it could consolidate ashore. The Kinmen command said officers and soldiers on the islands continue combat-ready training so they can use home-ground advantage if fighting starts, and so layered fires can stop an assault before it consolidates.

The Kinmen live-fire package is separate from recent coast-guard reports of Chinese vessels pushed away around Kinmen and Dongsha, and from the army's first M1A2T appearance in a joint live-fire evaluation on Taiwan proper earlier the same week.

Taipei Times, citing the Kinmen Defense Command statement, likewise described the exercise as part of efforts to improve combat capability and rapid response, with air-defence and Beiding units tied into the garrison battalion's protective fire plan.

By pairing heavy guns with TAK-linked coordination on an island that sits inside China's coastal artillery range, the quarterly Taiwu shoot is another public signal that Taiwan's offshore garrisons are rehearsing layered fires against landings rather than only peacetime patrol work.