After years of planning, work will officially begin early next month at sites around Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung in preparation for the deployment of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) air defense units purchased from the US, senior officials said yesterday.
In all, NT$61.4 million (US$2 million) has been set aside from next year’s budget to prepare the sites for four PAC-3 units in the two special municipalities. A private contractor will oversee work at the sites, a Ministry of National Defense spokesman said, declined to provide further information on the engineering contract, citing Government Procurement Act (政府採購法) regulations.
Taiwan currently deploys three PAC-2 units, which were recently upgraded to PAC-3 configuration, around Taipei in Wanli (萬里), Nangang (南港) and Sindian (新店). During negotiations under Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration, it was decided that Taichung and Kaohsiung would both get Patriot units to protect the political and military centers, as well as critical infrastructure in central and southern parts of the country.
Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin Corp
The ministry has reportedly mapped out a number of locations for the deployment of the PAC-3 units, including Greater Taichung’s Dadu Mountain (大肚山), Greater Kaohsiung’s Jenwu District (仁武), Greater Tainan’s Hutoupi (虎頭埤), as well as the Pingtung and Chiayi airports.
A military official would not confirm the sites chosen for the four units, which were included in the US$6.4 billion arms package notified to US Congress in October 2008 and are scheduled for delivery in 2014 or 2015. Two more units were part of a subsequent package announced in January 2010 and will be introduced as part of a future phase.
Raytheon Corp is the manufacturer of the fire units and radars, with Lockheed Martin Co producing the hit-to-kill missiles.
Taiwan has so far purchased a total of 388 PAC-3 missiles as part of the multibillion-dollar procurement deals. To increase the chances of intercept, PAC-3 doctrine calls for the use of two missiles per incoming target, a method known as “ripple firing.”
Although critics of the PAC-3 argue that the air defense system could easily be overwhelmed by a large number of Chinese ballistic missiles fired simultaneously or in close sequence, proponents of the system counter that from the beginning, the program was meant to deny Beijing the ability to engage in coercion by threatening limited missile attacks against key infrastructure to intimidate decisionmakers in Taipei.
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS