The army is developing a new system of combined information technology and psychological warfare capabilities, defense sources said yesterday.
One of the army's objectives is to build a "virtual reality" system in its internal computer network as a defensive and offensive weapon against enemy hackers. The bogus system is aimed at making enemy hackers believe what they see on the computer network is real, when they are in fact being fed misinformation, an army official who has knowledge of the development said.
"The tactic might achieve strategic goals such as leading the enemy into a direction that we want them to go," the official said.
The army's psychological operations group and electronic warfare battalion are joining hands to develop the new tactics. These units were created two years ago on an experimental basis.
The two units are among the army's most secretive. They are comprised of top specialized personnel.
The army's deputy political warfare chief Major-General Hsiao Ju-po (
Hsiao said this was their top priority for the moment, but declined to comment further.
The concept of combined information and psychological warfare is new in Taiwan, but not in countries like the US and Russia. Information obtained by the army shows that the Chinese military also started developing combined information-psychological warfare capabilities in 1996.
According to an article in Army Academic Monthly's May, 2001, issue, China is also developing a bogus computer network to confuse potential enemies.
In addition to the virtual reality system, China is developing another tactic involving compu-ter attacks to deny an enemy the ability to make a correct judgment of the battlefield.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it