More than 5,000 reservists will be mobilized for this year's Han Kuang 42 exercise — the largest reserve call-up in the drill's history — as Taiwan's military simultaneously activates two full brigade-level units in the north and south for the first time.
The Ministry of National Defense confirmed the plan on July 28, announcing that Han Kuang 42, running August 5-14, will be conducted in parallel with the Tung Hsin 36 Mobilization Exercise, Taiwan's dedicated annual reserve call-up drill. The two exercises together form a combined test of both regular and reserve force readiness.
Two Brigades, Two Fronts: A Simultaneous North-South Call-Up
The dual mobilization will draw on two distinct brigade-level units: the Taipei Reserve Brigade in the north, and the 137th Infantry Brigade, based in Tainan, in the south. Each will undergo a full-brigade call-up — meaning every assigned reservist, not just a representative sample, will be ordered to report for duty.
Brigadier General Lu Wen-yuan(呂文元), director of the ministry's Joint Operations Division, said the goal is to verify that mobilized units can carry out their assigned territorial defense and combat support missions within specified time limits. Each brigade will be evaluated across four capability benchmarks: completing muster and reporting on schedule, organizing its force structure, conducting pre-combat training, and restoring full combat readiness.
Scale Doubles Last Year's Historic First
The ambition of this year's mobilization comes into focus when measured against last year's. Han Kuang 41 made history as the first iteration to conduct a full brigade call-up, activating the Army's 206th Infantry Brigade with roughly 3,000 personnel. That single-brigade mobilization was itself a landmark at the time.
This year, Taiwan is running two simultaneous full-brigade call-ups across opposite ends of the island, with a combined headcount exceeding 5,000 — a near doubling of scale in a single year. The expansion signals that reserve force integration is moving from proof of concept toward operational expectation, with defense planners placing increasing weight on reserve readiness as a core pillar of the island's overall defense posture. （Related： Han Kuang 42 | Taiwan Tests Nine Combat Scenarios in Annual Live Drill ｜ Latest ）
