The Air Force Air Defense Command will add a 6th Guard Brigade to integrate military police forces to strengthen missile and fighter protection

In order to meet the needs of combat readiness missions and protect the safety of various types of missiles of the Air Force, senior military officials confirmed that the Air Force Air Defense and Missile Command, which currently has five missile brigades under its jurisdiction, will add a sixth brigade next year, which will be a security brigade dedicated to security. The picture shows President Lai inspecting the "2nd Company of the 613th Battalion of the 792nd Brigade of the Air Force" in February this year. This unit is the Tiangong III anti-aircraft missile unit. (Picture: taken from the Presidential Palace website)

[Reporter Luo Tianbin/Report from Taipei] In order to meet the needs of combat readiness missions and protect the safety of various types of missiles of the Air Force, senior military officials confirmed that the Air Force Air Defense and Missile Command, which currently has five missile brigades under its jurisdiction, will add a sixth brigade next year, which will be a guard brigade dedicated to security. At that time, all current Air Force military police units will be transferred and included in the compulsory officers and soldiers, adding another safety lock to Taiwan's air defense security.

The current force structure of the Air Defense Department is mainly composed of five anti-aircraft missile brigades, including the 791st Brigade to the 795th Brigade. Among them, the most mysterious 791st Brigade is responsible for countermeasures weapons such as surface-to-surface cruise missiles and is a special missile brigade. The other four brigades are based on geographical location to guard the airspace of the north, middle, south, east and outer islands. This group of missile and air defense forces are on standby around the clock. If there is any disturbance, they can use Patriot 2 and 3 missiles and Tiangong 3 missiles, as well as the planned and purchased NASAMS air defense system, to intercept enemy fighters, drones or ballistic missiles in the air.

Please read on...

Air Force air defense forces fired Patriot II missiles during a joint precision munitions shooting exercise last week. (Photo: Provided by Military News Agency)

Senior officials pointed out today that the national army has increased its missile positions and mobile launch vehicles in recent years, and the security of the positions and mobile missile launch vehicles has become a top priority. In the past, due to historical organization, there was often an embarrassing situation where "missiles were under the control of the Air Force and door guards were under the control of the military police." In order to solve the problem of inconsistent command chain, the 6th Brigade (Guard Brigade) established next year will bring all Air Force Military Police units scattered across various bases back to the Air Force for reorganization. After this group of military police retire from the "White Helmets" and return to the Air Force, they will transform into a professional guard platoon and take over full control of the camp's security.

The core mission of this soon-to-be-born security brigade that does not control missiles is to act as "personal bodyguards for missiles and fighter planes." In the future, in addition to guarding military airports and high-mountain radar stations all-weather, when Patriot missile vehicles or Tiangong missile vehicles are deployed in the wild or along the coast, the guard brigade will also have to guard and guard the entire process and set up the first line of armed cordon on the spot. In addition, under the policy of restoring the compulsory service period to one year, these newly recruited compulsory soldiers are also expected to become the immediate combat capability of the ground defense of the guard brigade.

Officials said that this organizational adjustment not only symbolizes the official return of the early guard force known as the "Air Force Marine Corps", but also achieves the unification of air defense command and control. Through this perfect division of labor between "air defense operations" and "ground alert", the military has strengthened the key screws of the "Taiwan Shield" and must fully demonstrate the national military's tenacious determination to defend itself in the Taiwan Strait defense war.