China conducted an intense siege drill on Taiwan on April 1-2. It mobilized a large number of advanced weapons, including aircraft carrier battle groups and new supersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles.
On March 2, the spokesperson of the PLA Eastern Theater Command, Shi Yi, said, “We are conducting military exercises code-named “Strait Thunder-2025A” in the middle and southern areas of the Taiwan Straits”.
Long-range live-fire drills were conducted in the area, and they evaluated that the expected results were achieved in terms of accurate strikes on simulated targets, including important ports and energy facilities. The day before, the military began a siege drill on Taiwan on all sides, and the next day it launched a full-scale firepower demonstration.
Type 054 frigates and Dongfeng (DF)-15 ballistic missiles participated in the previous day’s drills, while H-6K bombers flew with the new YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile, according to state media outlet Global Times.
First unveiled in 2022, the YJ-21 missile has a top speed of Mach 10 and the Chinese military has claimed that Taiwan’s military has no weapons to intercept it.
The siege drill on Taiwan comes six months after the last joint exercise, Regen (“Joint Sword”-2024B), in October last year. As the Regen drill has been held twice before, as “2024A” and “2024B”, it is likely that this drill will be held again in the second half of the year.
