In a military switch with direct implications for Taiwan, the Pentagon is changing the way it spies on China.
US General Gary North, Pacific Air Forces Commander, has announced that three Global Hawk drones — the US’ most advanced unmanned planes — are to be based at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam.
They are expected to start operating from Guam as soon as tomorrow.
North confirmed that the drones would gather intelligence and conduct surveillance and reconnaissance.
The Global Hawks will eventually take over completely from the U-2 spy planes and the RC-135 surveillance aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region.
These are the manned aircraft that currently fly high over the Taiwan Strait at regular intervals to monitor China’s missile buildup and the military forces facing Taiwan.
The spy planes — and now the drones — would probably provide the first major clues if China began moving towards an attack or invasion.
“The move to drones is definitely something for Taiwan to take note of. It’s a significant development,” said John Pike, head of the Washington-based think tank Global Security.
He said that it signaled Washington’s continued commitment to gathering intelligence in the region following the retirement of the U-2s and the RC-135s.
While it will take some months to establish that the drones can do as good a job as the manned spy planes, analysts believe they will provide a comparable service over the Taiwan Strait.
The drones do not fly as high as the spy planes, but will cover Chinese missile fields and bases in all of the coastal areas facing Taiwan.
Global Hawks can reach altitudes of 19km — well above the range of most defensive weapons — and can stay in the air for more than 32 hours at a time.
“It flies for more than a day and it flies at very good speeds and so you could transit a long distance,” North said.
While the exact figures are classified, it is believed that Global Hawks can fly about 16,000km on one mission.
The first of the three drones to be stationed on Guam arrived there earlier this month following an 18-hour journey from Beale Air Force Base in California.
Officially known as the RQ-4 Global Hawk, the drones are made by Northrop Grumman and cost about US$183 million each.
The drones have been described as having a “bulbous, whale-shaped nose” and have a top-mounted engine and V-tail. They are 13m long with a wingspan of 35m. Using information gathered by the spy plane program, the Pentagon reported this summer that China now has more than 1,400 missiles aimed at Taiwan and that despite much warmer economic relations “there have been no meaningful actions on the part of the mainland to reduce its military presence opposite the island.”
The Pentagon has concluded that with China’s rapidly expanding arsenal of ships, missiles and aircraft the cross-strait military balance continues to “shift in the mainland’s favor.”
With this in mind, US Representative Edward Royce told the US House of Representatives this week: “To help close the gap, Taiwan has had a pending request to buy additional F-16 fighter jets. The [US President Barack] Obama administration is still ‘studying’ this proposal.”
“Taiwan faces one of the most complex and lethal military threats in the world. Across the region, in response to China’s buildup and increasing assertiveness, China’s neighbors are moving to strengthen their security relationships with the US,” he said.
“This gravitation to the US will only last as long as the US is seen as a credible guarantor of stability. Moving forward with this F-16 sale would be an appropriate signal to Taiwan and the region. If we want cross-strait detente to succeed, Taiwan will have to operate from a position of strength,” Royce said.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS