Taiwan demonstrated a more aggressive form of coastal defence on Saturday, August 8, 2026, deploying swarms of low-flying attack drones and fast missile vessels during its annual Han Kuang military exercises. President Lai Ching-te observed the drill from a naval base in Kaohsiung, where unmanned aircraft swept across the sea and beach. This year’s drills are designed to force commanders to respond when battlefield events deviate from scripted scenarios, while testing the activation of more than 20,000 reservists.

Taipei is increasingly organising its defence around the assumption that China could attempt to disable command centres, ports, and communications networks early in a conflict. This has pushed the island towards a distributed defence strategy built around missiles, drones, and smaller vessels. The emphasis on drones reflects lessons from Ukraine, where inexpensive unmanned aircraft have been used for reconnaissance and strikes against expensive military equipment.

Additionally, Taiwan intends to integrate Coast Guard vessels, such as the Anping-class catamaran, into military operations during wartime. This asymmetric approach aims to make a potential amphibious assault prohibitively expensive by using numerous dispersed weapons capable of threatening larger Chinese vessels.