If China ever invades Taiwan, the main assault force would come by sea, of course—across the choppy 100 miles of the Taiwan Strait.
But a portion of the invading army might arrive by air. Chinese air force airborne troops could attempt to seize key facilities and open up fronts behind Taiwanese forces protecting the likely landing beaches.
With that in mind, the People’s Republic of China is beefing up its 30,000-person airborne corps with new airplanes. And the Republic of China is training to fight the paratroopers on the ground.
The Chinese transports would have to maneuver their way through Taiwanese air-defenses before disgorging their paratroopers. It likely would be a bloody journey for the Chinese pilots.
“The kind of large-scale airborne and air-assault operations often suggested as part of a PRC attack would be virtually suicidal unless the ROC’s air-defenses had been thoroughly suppressed,” the California think-tank RAND explained.
Whatever portion of the Chinese force that managed to jump could face heavy resistance on the ground. Taiwan as part of its annual Han Kuang war game simulates an airborne assault on Ching Chuan Kang air base in Taichung, on Taiwan’s west coast.
ROC soldiers wearing red helmets play the part of the Chinese attackers. They jump onto the airfield and fight a mock battle with blue-helmeted local defenders. The war game can be theatrical, with red and blue troops punching and flipping each other.
But the simulation underscores Taiwan’s plan for defending against airborne attack. ROC fighter planes and attack helicopters bombard the paratroopers. Then the Taiwanese army tanks roll in. Infantry in armored vehicles follow behind the tanks.
The defense plan makes sense. Airborne forces are lightly equipped and, while in the open, are vulnerable to attack from the air. Lacking heavy weaponry, they’re even more vulnerable to tanks.
The more airborne troops China can land, the better their chances of resisting counterattack. To that end, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force has begun practicing airborne landings with its new Y-20 strategic airlifter—China’s answer to the U.S. Air Force’s C-17.
The jet-propelled Y-20 probably carries around the same number of parachutists as the propeller-driven Y-9 does—100—but the Y-20 flies faster, making it more survivable.
The PLAAF airborne corps conducted its first airborne drops with the Y-20 in 2018, signalling the Chinese military’s effort to “integrate aerial insertion training into larger exercises,” according to the Pentagon’s 2020 report on Chinese military capabilities.
But even the speedy Y-20 can’t save Chinese paratroopers from the terrifying prospect of staring down battalions of Taiwanese M-60 tanks rolling toward them.
