1984 The exercise was first held by Army General
Hau Pei-tsun (the then Chief of the General Staff) on 23 April 1984.
2000 The 2000 exercise was held on August, focusing on
anti-missile, anti-landing, anti-airborne landing and anti-
air raid.
2008 The 2008 exercise was held on 23–27 June for the computer-simulated war gaming, while the field training exercises were held on 22–26 September.
2011 The 2011 exercise was held on 11–15 April in
Taichung City and
Pingtung County.
2012 In the 2012 exercise, President
Ma Ying-jeou was out of Taiwan during the drill due to his diplomatic visits to three
African countries, making the first time of the exercise with the absence of the
president.
2014 The 2014 exercise was held in
Chiayi County and
Penghu County. Civilian airplanes were used for the first time for personnel transport, carrying military officers and reservists from
Kaohsiung to Penghu.
2015 The 2015 exercise consisted of two stages. The first stage was held on 4–8 May 2015, designed to test the military's combat capabilities after undergoing streamlining processes at the end of 2014. The second stage was held from 7–11 September 2015 simulating an attack from the
People's Liberation Army. New weapon systems of
Lockheed P-3 Orion marine patrol aircraft, Tuo Jiang stealth missile corvette, Pan Shi supply vessel, Cloud Leopard armored vehicle and remote-controlled aerial vehicles were deployed. The exercise was held at a military base in northern
Hsinchu County.
2016 The 2016 exercise was held on 22–26 August 2016. The exercise saw the
National Airborne Service Corps involved for the first time. There were in total 1,072 tests performed during the exercise.
2017 The 2017 exercise consisted of two stages. The first stage was held on 1–5 May 2017. The exercise included scenario when the
People's Liberation Army (PLA) deploys three
aircraft carriers,
stealth aircraft and missiles. It focused on preserving combat capability using the collected information and surveillance data and countering the
blockades and
landings in Taiwan. The second stage was held on 22–26 May 2017. It included simulations of attacks on
Ching Chuan Kang Air Base by the PLA to test the ROC armed forces combat and defense capabilities on the coordinated response to simulated threats from the PLA. The exercise included locations such as
Penghu and
Taiping Island.
2018 The 2018 exercise was held on 4 June 2018 for five days. It was proceeded with computer-aided war games on 30 April to 5 May. The exercise consists of several main points, which are joint air-sea combat operation, anti-landing operations and joint anti-airborne combat operations. This exercise was also the first one to include civilian resources in its drill. On the first day of the exercise, an
F-16 fighter jet with tail number 6685 went missing at 1:43 p.m. over northern Taiwan after taking off at 1:09 p.m. The aircraft was subsequently found crashed at 4:18 p.m. by
fire fighters after receiving initial reports from a hiker at 3:22 p.m. The
air force then ordered to temporarily grounded all of F-16 aircraft until further notice pending investigation.
2019 The 2019 exercise started with computer-aided war games between 22 and 26 April 2019. It then continued with live-fire drills on 27–21 May 2019. The live exercise featured the takeoff and landing exercise of the
Republic of China Air Force aircraft on the
Huatan section of
National freeway 1 in
Changhua County.
2020 The 2020 exercise saw the participation of the
National Police Agency’s
Thunder Squad and the
Coast Guard Administration’s
Special Task Unit for the first time. They participated alongside military special forces units in
anti-decapitation drills. During the 2020 exercise a
Ching Chiang-class patrol ships with special
electronic warfare equipment was used to interfere with the signals collection of Chinese spy ships operating off
Orchid Island.
2024 The 2024 exercise was a significant departure from previous years being entirely unscripted and lacking major live firepower demonstrations. Special forces which in previous years had participated as a "red team" simulating PLA attackers focused instead on their actual wartime role of defense. The exercise focused on enabling units to act independently of higher command and practicing new
rules of engagement. Parts of the exercise were curtailed or postponed due to
Typhoon Gaemi. Forces involved were mobilized to help with
disaster response. Firepower demonstrations were still held on the outlying islands, but the one planned for Kinmen was cancelled due to the need for civilian vessels to take shelter close to the shore to ride out the typhoon. ==Criticism==