Conflict · Taiwan drills · ArchiveTaiwan Live-Fires Tanks on Strait Beach to Rehearse China DefenseAired August 10, 2026 at 3:49 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Taiwan's military put live fire onto0:01[music] a beach in the Penghu Islands,0:04firing M60A3 tanks on the shoreline, and0:07opening with anti-aircraft guns overhead0:09to rehearse a multi-layered [music]0:10defense against a Chinese assault. The0:12drills brought both systems to the same0:14stretch [music] of sand, M60A3 armor0:16firing at the waterline and0:17anti-aircraft guns covering the sky0:19above it. For the troops who would have0:21to fight there, and for the island0:22communities living around those beaches0:24and airstrips, the drills turn an0:26abstract contingency into concrete0:28positions, fields of fire, and seconds0:31to react. Putting armor and air defenses0:33together on the same beach tests the0:35[music] layered concept in practice,0:37tanks to hold the landing ground while0:39anti-aircraft fire tries to deny the sky0:41to an approaching force. The Penghu0:43[music] Islands sit inside the Taiwan0:45Strait, the narrow water between Taiwan0:47and [music] China that makes this0:48archipelago the front line any attack0:50would have to cross.0:52That description has not yet received0:54broader [music] independent0:55confirmation, leaving the full scope of0:58the exercise still to be verified. What1:00remains unresolved is whether these1:02Penghu beach rehearsals expand into1:04wider strait maneuvers, and how the1:06display of layered firepower affects1:08deterrence around the strait in the days1:10ahead.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗