The air force's sole electronic warfare (EW) aircraft completed an advanced EW drill early this month at a training range in eastern Taiwan, defense sources said yesterday.
The drill, which involved transmitting radio signals, and receiving air-to-ground, was the most up-to-date the No. 1351 C-130HE has undertaken since entering service in 1993 and took place at a site earmarked by the military as the country's first EW training range
The development marks the air force's efforts to upgrade its EW capabilities to modern standards.
At the moment, the EW capabilities of the Taiwan military are still weak as compared with advanced countries.
This is one of the main reasons the air force has been keeping its only EW aircraft top secret.
The C-130HE was stripped of all of its EW equipment during a routine maintenance check at a Taichung air base prior to the drill.
The arrangement was aimed at keeping the aircraft away from prying eyes but for the plane spotters who constantly hang around air force bases taking photos of planes, the C-130HE was immediately recognizable.
The C-130HE was converted from a C-130H transport plane by the Chun Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) and a US arms manufacturer.
The air force plans to assign some of its non-EW C-130H fleet to a special operations group.
Details of this group are not available, but it is expected that it will also be closely guarded.
Before purchasing the C-130H from the US in the mid-1980s, the air force already had some experience in using the C-130 aircraft for a range of special operations, including deep surveillance penetration of the Chinese interior.
It is not known how many times the air force successfully infiltrated China using the C-130, but infiltration missions of this kind helped the US obtain vital information on the communist country.
The special operations group is said to revive a similar practice, but no information could be obtained to confirm it.
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