The nation’s first combat-ready helicopter squadron is to be formed on Wednesday, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Placed under the command of the Taoyuan-based Republic of China Army 601st Air Cavalry Brigade, 29 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, which would eventually form two squadrons, were inspected by Lieutenant General Huang Kuo-ming (黃國明) ahead of an official ceremony on Wednesday.
Of two planned squadrons, the second is to be established first, as its pilots, equipment and training have met the ministry’s standards after a series of tests, the ministry said.
Screengrab courtesy of the Army Command Headquarters
The squadron would be given separate insignia and gear to signify its role in independent operations, said a ministry official who declined to be named.
The first squadron is to temporarily serve as a reserve unit, the official said, adding that it has also passed all tests.
The first squadron is expected to be formally established by the end of the year, the official added.
The brigade has been upgrading its equipment and has proved that it has become a key contributor to the army’s defense strategy, regardless of mobility, firepower and precision strike capability, the official quoted Huang as saying.
Huang hopes military officers would take stock of the unique characteristics of other units and incorporate them in different strategies and tactics, thus making the army a strong and modern military force, the official said.
Ministry officials declined to comment when asked whether the brigade would invite its sister unit in the US Army, the Hawaii-based 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, to attend Wednesday’s event
The nation purchased 30 Apache helicopters for about US$2.5 billion under a deal announced in 2008 by then-US president George W. Bush.
One of the helicopters crashed in 2014.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS