An Apache and Black Hawk drill in Taiwan shows how Ukraine’s drones are changing helicopter warfare

A Taiwanese soldier keeps watch on the ground during a helicopter refueling and ammunition resupply drill.

I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images Taiwan drilled earlier this month to rapidly refuel its Black Hawk and Apache helicopters in a war.

The helicopters were guarded by counter-drone infantry teams carrying rifles and jamming guns.

Ukraine's war has shown how helicopters are especially vulnerable to drones while refueling.

TAIPEI — A helicopter hot-refueling drill in Taiwan's landmark military exercise shows how the island is preparing for drone threats when its choppers fly in and out of vulnerable forward positions, a danger repeatedly demonstrated in Ukraine.

Counter-drone ground teams, crouching amid the grass and on a nearby road, watched the skies on the seventh day of the 10-day Han Kuang exercise , as the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade of Taiwan's army refueled three choppers by a lake in Taoyuan.

Taiwanese troops with assault rifles and an anti-drone gun take position by the makeshift re-fueling area.

I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images Armed with 5.56mm assault rifles and bulky anti-drone guns , the infantry provided cover for the three rotorcraft swooping in at low altitude for a top-up: an AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopter, a UH-60M Black Hawk transport chopper, and an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior recon helicopter.

They were arriving at a forward arming and refueling point, or FARP, a field or clearing serving as a temporary facility where ground crews can quickly replenish a helicopter's ammunition and fuel to keep it in the fight.

FARPs are temporary, mobile, and near the front lines, with the assumption of enemy aerial threats looming nearby.

Troops there were preparing for a scenario in which roads were cut off, and ground supply was unavailable.

Taiwanese soldiers resupply the Kiowa Warrior.

I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images The choppers, rotors still spinning, sat for about 15 minutes at the makeshift site as crews connected them to a collapsible fuel bladder, sling-loaded there moments ago by another Black Hawk.

Several troops rearmed the Kiowa Warrior with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.