Taiwan launched a three-day joint military drill on January 7 to showcase its military readiness amid rising tensions with China. In addition to simulating an attack and mounting a quick response, the military also showcased its formidable Patriot AD systems.
According to reports, the joint exercise mimicked an enemy special forces strike on vital infrastructure in the Hsinchu region on Day 1. The exercise included preemptive combat and encirclement maneuvers, and a contingency mechanism was triggered by units to carry out support activities.
The exercise, a component of the “2025 Enhanced Combat Readiness Media Invitation Event,” showed how quickly the army can activate defenses against possible threats to strategic targets in the country. The military simulated an enemy drone infiltration, countering with UAV reconnaissance and a coordinated response involving AH-64E Apache helicopters and CM11 Brave Tiger tanks.
The following day, January 8, Taiwan also demonstrated its Patriot missile defense system during drills at one of the largest air bases in Taichung, as reported by TaiwanPlus News, which was given rare access to observe the system. A video of Taiwanese troops operating the PAC-3 has been published. Taiwan has almost a dozen of these units scattered across major cities and military bases.
Standing before one of the PAC-3 Patriot missile defense systems, Major Li Kuan-yu, Company Commander of the 795th Air Defense Brigade, told reporters: “The location we choose for deployment has to meet our requirements. We try to choose a good location with good concealment and sufficiently large space. We also have a support unit to help us in real time when we move around. We mainly use the computer system in the command center to evaluate and decide how to engage a target.”
In addition to Patriot, the Taiwanese Air Force demonstrated how it would rearm and resupply its fighter jets during a war. On the last day, January 9, the military reportedly conducted anti-submarine drills off the Port of Kaohsiung. This is considered China’s best route for replenishing its forces if it establishes a beachhead in the strongly fortified area.
These military drills come amid enhanced Chinese military presence in the Taiwan Strait as part of China’s ‘gray zone’ tactics that seek to wear down Taiwan’s defenses without launching a full-scale war.
China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has vowed to reunify the self-ruled island state with the Chinese mainland. This means a Chinese military offensive in the Taiwan Strait is a real scenario.
Taiwan has been preparing for that eventuality. In recent months, it has increased its military activity, simulating military responses to a potential Chinese attack and testing the resilience and efficiency of its defenses. China’s increased aggression and “gray zone tactics” against Taiwan have forced the island state to bolster its air defenses.
The Patriot missile defense system is considered crucial for Taiwan in the event of a war with China. However, the system remains untested against stealth fighters, making it difficult to predict how it will perform against China’s J-20 Mighty Dragons.
Taiwan Has Patriots, But Can They Detect J-20s?
Military analysts believe that grappling with an overwhelming air power disadvantage, Taiwan must give up its plans to challenge the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in air superiority and instead implement a strategy of gradual air denial that will destroy Chinese aircraft and prevent China from swiftly gaining control of the island.
TaiIslanderates the Patriot Advanced Capability 2 (PAC-2) and PAC-3 Guided Enhancement Missiles (GEM) systems. In 2022, the US approved a possible US$100 million sale of equipment and services to Taiwan to “sustain, maintain, and improve” the Patriot missile defense systems.
The Patriot is a mobile, ground-based missile defense interceptor that can identify, track, and intercept cruise missiles, short-range or tactical ballistic missiles, fighter jets, and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Patriot system has four main components: interceptor missiles, launchers, an engagement control center, and a radar set.
The system garnered widespread popularity in Ukraine, where it reportedly shot down Russian hypersonic missiles, which Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously projected as invincible. Due to their speed and unpredictable flight path, hypersonic missiles are believed to be capable of penetrating air defense systems.
China has been wary of the Patriot, as demonstrated by its stiff opposition to the deployment of PAC-3 ground-to-air guided missiles at the Miyako Island facility in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
That said, Beijing currently maintains a fleet of over 200 J-20 fighter jets, a formidable number that could force any potential adversary to ‘think twice’ before challenging the might of the Chinese PLA Air Force. Chinese experts argue that the J-20’s combination of stealth, radar capabilities, and long-range missiles could provide a significant advantage to the PLAAF in any potential conflict.
Stealth fighters have smaller radar-cross sections (RCS), which makes detecting them difficult. This allows them to launch the first strike without being detected. If China were to invade Taiwan, it could dispatch its J-20s to annihilate vital Taiwanese targets, such as its air defense systems, early warning radars, command and control centers, and fighter jets parked in hangars.
This is where the Patriot missile defense systems come in. According to some reports, the Patriot’s flat phased array radar produces a beam that is relatively narrow and extremely agile, allowing the radar to identify low radar cross-section targets like cruise missiles or stealth aircraft, as well as ballistic missiles.
When asked if the Patriots can detect the J-20, a PLA expert who did not want to be identified told EurAsian Times, “The J-20 is a low-observable aircraft, it is supposed to be invisible to radars. However, the very idea of anything being ‘completely invisible’ is ridiculous. Any stealth aircraft can be detected depending on the circumstance.”
If Chinese claims are anything to go by, the J-20 has flown over Taiwan without being detected by Taiwanese air defenses. In January 2023, a J-20 pilot claimed he flew over Taiwan without being detected.
Speaking at a CCTV broadcast, the pilot said he flew over Taiwan, overseeing the entire island from his cockpit. He also informed the channel that he flew over Bashi Channel, Miyako Strait, and Tsushima Strait in the East China Sea.
Although Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) posts regular updates about PLAAF military aircraft intrusions, it did not mention the J-20 at the time.
Since then, the Chinese J-20 has been deployed in several PLA drills, simulating an encirclement of Taiwanese Island and Islandcing its invasion.
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