TAIPEI, June 21 (Reuters) - Taiwan's military will hold a five-day combat readiness drill this week, the defence ministry said on Sunday, as part of modernisation plans to shift its training focus to more realistic exercises simulating war, away from setpiece events.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the objections of the government in Taipei, says China's armed forces routinely operate in the skies and seas around the island in an effort to pressure it to accept Chinese sovereignty.
Taiwan's military has begun basing some of its drills on a scenario in which China suddenly turns one of its regular exercises around the island into an actual attack.
The "Immediate Combat Readiness Exercise" would start on Monday and run until Friday, the defence ministry said in a statement, describing the drill as part of annual training plans in joint operations for the armed forces.
"The main objective is to train units at all levels to become familiar with combat practices and the battlefield environment during the readiness deployment phase," it said.
The exercise would also help to strengthen rapid peacetime-to-wartime transitions and priority deployments, it added, with "actual troops, on actual terrain, in real time, using actual equipment, and through actual implementation".
It will hone command mechanisms and combat-oriented capabilities of the troops, with an emphasis on improving joint operations command and control, logistical sustainment, and battlefield preparation, the ministry said.
The announcement came on the same day the ministry said China had sent another large number of military aircraft into the skies near Taiwan.
There were 21 aircraft, including J-16 fighters, KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and Y-20 aerial refuelling aircraft, it added.
Nineteen of them entered the airspace to Taiwan's southwest and into the Western Pacific to conduct "long-distance training over open seas", it added.
Taiwan sent its own forces to "respond appropriately", the ministry said, using the standard wording for its response.
Telephone calls to China's defence ministry to seek comment were not answered outside office hours on Sunday.
Taiwan regularly holds military drills, including earlier this month, when it fired its new U.S.-made HIMARS rocket system, which is widely used by Ukraine, into the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan's main annual Han Kuang war games are expected to take place in August.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Clarence Fernandez)
