Senior military officials said yesterday that the command, control and communications (C3) capability of the Army is expected to be greatly upgraded following the establishment of a tactical communication system by next February. They say that the utility of this system was proven in the field during operations conducted as part of emergency work after the 921 earthquake.
"In two to three years, we [the Army] will have a completely new look to our C3 capability," said Major General Lee Jenn-ming (李振鳴), chief of communications, electronics and information services of the Army General Headquarters.
"The tactical communication system, to be established next February, will first cover the northern parts of the island and then be extended to other parts of the country," Lee said.
"The system, which adopts advanced communication equipment currently in use in the US military, was field-tested during the rescue and reconstruction operations following the Sept. 21 earthquake," he said.
"It had also been used highly effectively by the US armed forces in rescue operations carried out during typhoons in Hawaii and Miami in recent years," he said.
With the advanced system in operation, Lee said, the Army's field communication capability will be greatly upgraded.
"In the future, the corps commander can send commands to any unit in the field through the system. The system can provide not only telephony, but also fax or other related services," Lee said.
"There is no need to fear that the commands or other information sent through the system will be intercepted and decoded by the enemy. The system has over ten frequencies, which will automatically modulate at very high speeds to avoid interception," he said. "The message itself will also be difficult for the enemy to decode, since it is sent in digitized mode."
"In the future, we will seek to make the system compatible with all sorts of communication systems in use in Taiwan, both military and civilian."
Shih Hsiao-wei (
"It will strengthen the Army's electronic warfare capability in respect to intercepting and jamming enemy's electronic systems," Shih said.
Major General Abe C. Lin (林勤經), director of the communication, electronics and information bureau of the Ministry of National Defense, said the Army's improved communication capability strongly impressed Japanese teams during the post-quake rescue period.
"As Japanese rescue workers arrived in Taiwan, they were surprised to find the communication ability of Taiwan's army was much more advanced than they thought," Lin said.
Japanese rescue workers brought their surprise back home, Lin said, and it was the reason why the Sankei Shimbun (
"The Japanese told me that before they came to Taiwan they believed that Taiwan's military communications capability was not very good. They found they were wrong," Lin said.
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