The Coast Guard Administration is to start operating a fleet of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) for maritime law enforcement in the disputed South China Sea before the end of next year, a senior defense official said on Sunday on condition of anonymity.
The Executive Yuan has cleared the coast guard to open a bid to acquire 20 rotary-wing UAVs over the next two years.
Eight drones are to be procured by the end of next year with four slated for deployment in the South China Sea on board patrol ships belonging to the Southern Flotilla Sector, Mobile Patrol Directorate.
The UAVs are to carry out patrol and surveillance duties over the seas near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島) and the Spratly Islands (南沙群島) as part of “Operation Blue Sea,” the official said.
The remaining four drones are to be deployed with the coast guard unit in Keelung to head off unauthorized fishing operations by foreign boats, the official said.
The coast guard is to procure a separate batch of 12 UAVs in 2019 for its units in Taichung, Kaohsiung, Hualien, Taitung and the Northern Flotilla Sector, they said.
Shoring up the nation’s defenses in the South China Sea was among the first orders President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) issued when she assumed office last year.
In response, the Ministry of National Defense made a list of recommendations to the coast guard, including acquiring 155-mm howitzers for Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) and Juiyuan (銳鳶).
The coast guard agreed to obtain the howitzers — which it is holding in mobile reserve — but rejected the Juiyuan drones on the grounds that the fixed-wing design does not suit its needs.
Earlier this year, the coast guard asked the Executive Yuan for permission to buy rotary-wing drones, which the Executive Yuan has granted, the official said.
Rotary-wing drones are capable of vertical takeoff and landing for ship-based operations, and can stay in the air for extended periods, making them suitable for the coast guard’s operational needs, the official said.
The coast guard is to favor domestic manufacturers for the drones, which supports the government’s plans for the indigenous production of military aircraft, the official said.
The Executive Yuan’s approval for the procurement of drones is conducted on a trial basis and the coast guard could change its allocation in response to changing mission requirements, the official said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique