The U.S. Army rehearsed a long-range assault across the Pacific Ocean as China’s expanding military capabilities raise the prospect of a future war over Taiwan.
Soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division flew hundreds of miles over open water before landing on simulated enemy-held territory in Hawaii. The operation tested capabilities that could prove essential in a war against China, where American forces could face enormous distances, isolated islands and heavily contested supply routes, according to a Monday article from the Army.
Troops from the division’s 2nd Mobile Brigade were transported by the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade before receiving heavy resupply drops from the 8th Theater Sustainment Command, according to the Army.
The 2nd Mobile Brigade provides ground combat troops responsible for seizing and holding territory, while the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade transports soldiers and equipment by helicopter. The 8th Theater Sustainment Command oversees logistical support, including delivering supplies needed to sustain military operations across vast distances, according to the Army.
The assault formed part of a 14-day exercise simulating combat against a near-peer adversary. American soldiers also fought to capture objectives and dislodge simulated enemy forces in Oahu’s Northern Kahuku Training Area, according to the Army.
Although the Army did not explicitly identify China as the simulated enemy, the training reflects challenges American forces could face against Beijing’s rapidly modernizing military.
China has spent years developing the People’s Liberation Army’s ability to seize Taiwan, a self-governing democracy Beijing claims as its territory. Chinese military planners have explored options including amphibious invasion, missile bombardment and maritime blockade, according to a 2025 Department of War report.
China has repeatedly threatened Taiwan with military exercises, including ballistic missile launches near the island. During an August 2022 exercise, Beijing fired 11 ballistic missiles into surrounding waters, with four believed to have flown over Taiwan’s main island, according to Taiwan’s Presidential Office and Japan’s Ministry of Defense.
Chinese warplanes have also repeatedly crossed the Taiwan Strait’s unofficial dividing line, conducting military operations around the self-governing island. Beijing’s military conducted 3,067 incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone in 2024, up from 1,641 in 2023, per the Pentagon’s 2025 report.
China has simultaneously expanded its naval operations around Taiwan, including exercises simulating a blockade of the island. Taiwanese forces detected 21 Chinese military aircraft, eight naval vessels and eight other government ships during a single 24-hour period ending Nov. 5, with 19 aircraft sorties crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.
Chinese coast guard and other government vessels have also increasingly challenged Taiwan’s maritime jurisdiction. Four Chinese government ships entered restricted waters south of Taiwan in June 2026 before Taiwanese patrol vessels expelled them, according to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration.
China’s military is working toward possessing the capability to fight and win a war over Taiwan by the end of 2027, according to the Department of War’s 2025 report.
However, that target does not establish an invasion date. American intelligence officials assessed in March that Chinese leaders did not plan to invade Taiwan in 2027 and had no fixed timeline for doing so, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
China has also developed long-range weapons capable of threatening American forces throughout the Pacific. Chinese strikes could potentially reach targets 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles from the country’s coastline, according to the Department of War.
Chinese military operations near Taiwan increasingly resemble rehearsals for a potential attack, Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, warned in April congressional testimony.
China has also sought to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, insisting that foreign governments recognize Beijing’s claims over the self-governing island. Beijing welcomed Papua New Guinea’s decision to close Taiwan’s representative office on Monday, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
The decision demonstrated that “upholding the one-China principle is where international public opinion trends and the arc of history bends,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Monday, per the Foreign Ministry.
Beijing is also developing a military capable of conducting sustained conflicts far beyond China’s borders, including through expanding missile, naval, cyber and space capabilities, according to the same testimony.
The Army’s latest exercise tested how American troops could operate across the vast distances such a confrontation would involve.
The operation demonstrated the ability to “project combat power across vast maritime distances,” Lt. Col. Thomas Dolce, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, said according to the Army.
Keeping troops supplied was another central component of the exercise. Army personnel established dispersed refueling locations across the Hawaiian Islands, allowing aircraft to sustain operations without revealing their positions, per the Army.
“In the Pacific theater, logistics is not just a supporting function,” Lt. Col. Sean Donahoe, the division’s assistant chief of staff for logistics, said in the Army article.
Soldiers also practiced moving undetected through environments saturated with advanced sensors. The division employed modernized command-and-control networks and tools the Army described as “Super-Intelligence” to accelerate battlefield decisions, according to the Army.
The larger exercise brought together American troops and forces from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, France, New Zealand and the Maldives. French soldiers additionally helped secure forward refueling positions needed to sustain operations across the islands, per the Army.
The operation followed a separate 3,000-mile deployment by approximately 300 Alaska-based paratroopers, who flew to Hawaii and conducted an airborne insertion to simulate rapidly reinforcing Pacific positions, according to the Army’s article.
Forward-deployed troops, realistic exercises and cooperation with regional allies are essential to deterring potential adversaries across the Pacific, Gen. Ronald Clark, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, said during an October military forum.
(DCNF)
