Taiwan ends Lu Sheng 2 army exercise early as Typhoon Chanpi approaches

Taiwan’s army has ended its large Lu Sheng 2 (陸勝2號) exercise early because of an approaching typhoon. The Army Training and Doctrine Development Command said on 22 October that the exercise would be terminated at 10:00 that morning, after nine days of training.

According to the command’s press statement, the Central Weather Administration was expected to issue a land warning for Typhoon Chanpi (薔琵) around noon on 22 October. The command said the main training subjects had already been completed, and that ending the exercise would give the participating units time to prepare for the storm.

Units turn to disaster preparations

The command said the troops would return to their home garrisons and then move on to typhoon preparations and the pre-positioning of forces. This is meant to let units be committed to disaster-relief tasks during the storm if needed, in order to protect the lives and property of the public, the statement said.

What the exercise was

Lu Sheng 2 is the army’s brigade-level final evaluation, held with real troops and equipment. As Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense described it before the start, the exercise was scheduled for 14 to 23 October, ten days and nine nights without a break, longer than the seven days and six nights of earlier years. Geopolitiki reported on its design here: Taiwan: ten days and nine nights of “real combat” in the Lu Sheng 2 exercise – with M1A2T tanks and drones in the defence of the north.

In that scenario the 269th Combined Brigade defended northern Taiwan while the 564th Combined Brigade moved north to attack. The ministry had said the training would test brigade and battalion command, fire-support coordination, graduated resistance and a prolonged fight, together with the use of drones and special forces, and would try out new equipment such as the M1A2T Abrams tank.

Weather and military routine

The statement describes the decision as a matter of disaster-prevention readiness rather than of any change in the training programme. It does not say whether any part of the planned schedule for 22 and 23 October was left undone, and the command has not published results of the evaluation.

Taiwan’s armed forces are regularly called on for typhoon and flood relief, and the army’s statement presents the early return of the units to base in that light. Separately, the ministry continues to publish its daily report on Chinese military aircraft and ships around the island, which Geopolitiki covers each day.

The command’s statement was issued under the army’s political warfare bureau at 08:00 on 22 October, Taiwan time.