TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The People's Liberation Army’s (PLA) helicopter force has grown from about 136 units in 2011 to over 500 units this year, which could have real implications for Taiwan’s defense.

A recent report by the China Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War College highlights how China’s burgeoning chopper force may be deployed during an invasion of Taiwan. It predicts two potential strategies from the PLA: one is a rapid strike using almost all chopper units simultaneously, and the other is a slower, sequential deployment of select forces to slowly bring Taiwan under control.

In the first scenario, a mass artillery bombardment would rain down on the country in an effort to destroy its air defenses and clear the way for an enormous wave of helicopters, what Chinese planners refer to as an “aerial assault brigade," to zip across the strait and airdrop assault groups onto key strategic targets, per Business Insider. Many of these spots, such as the Presidential Office Building, Taipei Songshan Airport, Taoyuan International Airport, and other military bases and harbors, are in northern Taiwan.

The timing of the attacks would likely coincide with an amphibious assault on the country, which could see the bulk of Taiwan’s forces tied up on the beaches while China’s choppers fly overhead and hit these strategic points inland from behind Taiwan’s front lines.

The first waves are likely to comprise smaller, legacy helicopter platforms with the aim of drawing fire so the PLA can pinpoint and destroy the country's air defense positions with follow-up waves of newer, heavy-hitting assault choppers.

Chinese state media have boasted that one sortie of China’s indigenous Z-10 choppers, for instance, can take out at least six enemy tanks. Yet the U.S. Naval War College report thinks the PLA is at least another decade away from being able to successfully carry out aerial assault brigade attacks on Taiwan.

In 2020, Chinese media said an assault brigade of 100 helicopters could put troops on Taiwan within an hour, but Taiwanese military expert Sung Chao-wen (宋兆文) said at the time that even if the PLA's assault brigade had 1,000 helicopters, they would all be destroyed.

American military strategists have also said that helicopters approaching Taiwan would face multiple layers of anti-aircraft firepower from both sea and land and both long-range and short-range, describing the threat of being shot down "terrifyingly high.”

In addition to the country’s robust air defenses, Taiwan presents a challenging topography for landing a chopper. Storm Media wrote that mountainous terrain, high-voltage electric towers, and a preponderance of wires and cables strewn over the urbanized landscape all present obstacles.