During the Han-Kuang exercises in the past two years, the Military Police Command conducted drills on the Taipei MRT, with officers and soldiers carrying man-portable Stinger missile launchers. (File photo)
[Reporter Luo Tianbin/Reporting from Taipei] The cross-strait situation and the threat of urban war have continued to heat up in recent years, and the military's Iron Guard military police responsible for protecting the central leadership are undergoing the most significant historic transformation in history. According to the Ministry of National Defense's latest army-building plan, the mission focus of the military police will be significantly reorganized in the next five years. The force is expected to double and expand to 10,000 people. The mission will be completely shifted from the traditional maintenance of military discipline and the head of state's special service to "guarding the Taipei Circle against beheadings" and "protecting national critical infrastructure." In essence, it has been transformed into an urban light infantry with high mobility and heavy firepower.
Senior officials analyzed today and pointed out that in order to cope with mission transformation, the military police's equipment procurement in the next five years will be fully geared towards urban warfare, asymmetric warfare and low-altitude defense layout. The core focus is on the "M-ACE vehicle-mounted anti-drone system" that was first raised against the United States and integrates software and hardware to kill. This system is equipped with the same 30mm remote-controlled chain gun as the Apache helicopter. It will be deployed on a mobile basis in downtown Taipei in the future. It is equipped with advanced "aerial bombs" and AI fire control to avoid buildings. It can directly use physical kinetic energy to destroy incoming drones within 3 kilometers, becoming the strongest backing for the Boai Special Zone's low-altitude defense.
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In order to strengthen the anti-drone combat capabilities in key areas such as the Boai Special Zone, the military is seeking the United States to sell multiple vehicle-mounted drone countermeasures systems. This new equipment, which combines hard kill and soft kill, can effectively counter any drone swarm offensive that the Communist Army may adopt. (Picture: taken from Northrop Grumman official website)
In addition, according to the 2016 National Defense Open Budget, the military police compiled a "maintenance and warranty package" totaling approximately 140 million yuan to integrate existing anti-armor combat capabilities with tanks and wheeled vehicles. Among them, the vehicle-mounted missile system maintenance case has an allocation of more than 117.23 million yuan. The remote-controlled anti-armor missile system maintenance procurement project is allocated NT$24.933 million, which means that the military police are integrating Javelin missiles with existing armored vehicles (such as Clouded Leopard armored vehicles) or tactical wheeled vehicles through dedicated launchers or "remote-controlled weapon stations" to fully move toward vehicle-mounted use to enhance rapid mobile strike capabilities in urban warfare in Greater Taipei.
In addition to vehicle-mounted chain guns, the individual firepower of grassroots military police will also undergo a major upgrade. The military police have successively compiled budgets to purchase man-portable Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-armor missile system maintenance projects, and have prioritized the replacement of the latest T112 tactical rifles of the national army. It is worth noting that the grassroots level has also introduced the "Smart Shooter Smart Scope". This small weapon fire control system can be installed on an ordinary rifle and automatically locked through the fire control computer, allowing the grassroots military police to accurately snipe and "hard kill" small and medium-sized drones within 400 meters, fully preventing low-altitude harassment by enemy agents.
In terms of anti-terrorism operations and Wanjun convoy security, the Military Police plans to budget hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire five new special tactical vehicles annually for the Military Police Special Service Team (Nighthawk Force), including aluminum ladder trucks and bulletproof and explosion-proof personnel transport vehicles, to deal with Confined Space Operations (CQB) in Taipei's urban jungle. At the same time, the military police will also update the new "head of state mobile command vehicle" with high security protection and anti-jamming satellite communications. The appearance is completely disguised as a civilian vehicle to ensure that the national commander's mobile transfer and command authority can be foolproof during wartime emergencies.
The military emphasized that the military police will gradually expand from the original 5,600 to 11,000 in the future, and will be organized into a "Garrison First Combat Team" in the southern district of Taipei, cooperating with the 66th Marine Corps Brigade guarding Songshan Airport and the surrounding Army Guandu Command. In the future, whether they are compulsory or volunteer military police, they must stand on the front line during wartime and guard Taipei City's traffic arteries, bridges and power plants. This five-year overhaul of equipment and tasks is accelerating the transformation of this traditional military police force into the most solid steel defense line protecting the capital.
