The navy held a live-fire exercise off the coast of Kaohsiung yesterday at a location close to where one of the Chinese ballistic missiles landed in 1996, a provocation which sparked the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis.
The drill, organized specifically for the press, was conducted by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and featured two Lafayette-class frigates, which the ROC Navy purchased from France.
It originally was to include a bombardment of mock surface targets by two sorties of F-16 fighter planes, but the maneuver was cancelled at the last moment because of bad weather.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
One remaining part of the exercise -- firing of live ammunition from the Lafayette-class frigate Tihua's 76mm gun -- went ahead as planned.
The live-fire drill took place about 55km west of Kaohsiung's Tsoying naval harbor, close to one of the locations where China's ballistic missiles landed in 1996.
Most of the top brass charged with defending southern Taiwan were present for the occasion.
The MND said that it organized the exercise to demonstrate military readiness before the Lunar New Year. Similar campaigns are held every year at this time and they are meant to assure Taiwanese that the country is safe from harm.
The navy bought a total of six Lafayette-class frigates from France in the last decade. The frigates are the most advanced warship in the ROC Navy, which also includes Chengkung-class and Knox-class frigates.
The Lafayettes travel at a relatively fast speed and feature a streamlined design and state-of-the-art equipment, but they have a relatively weak arsenal.
The ship's weakest point is its air-defense weaponry, which is comprised mostly of short-range missiles.
The navy is seeking to upgrade the air-defense capability of its Lafayettes, with Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) eagerly bidding for the deal.
CSIST has developed a vertical launch system (VLS) for air defense missiles that makes use of a sea-to-air version of the Tien Chien-II anti-aircraft missile, sources said.
A CSIST proposal is asking the navy to allow the institute to use one of the six Lafayette-class frigates as the test-platform for the VLS, but the navy has been hesitant to let the costly frigates be used to test a system that hasn't proven its effectiveness.
The navy's hesitation is a likely indication that it is ready to refuse the air defense package and some military buffs are saying that it may instead adapt the US-made Standard SM-II air defense missile to the VLS, not the Tien Chien-II missiles.
The Standard SM-II system generated some controversy in October when PFP Lawmaker and ex-navy chief Nelson Ku (顧崇廉) criticized plans to buy the missile at three times its market value.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS