Canadian firm CAE has been awarded a contract to design and manufacture a flight simulator and tactical trainer for the P-3C “Orion” maritime patrol aircraft Taiwan has purchased from the US, the company announced in a March 23 press release.
Under the terms of the contract, CAE will design and manufacture a P-3C operational flight trainer (OFT) as well as a P-3C operational tactics trainer (OTT). The P-3C OFT will be a Level D equivalent flight simulator and used to train the pilots and co-pilots of Taiwan’s P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, the press release said. The P-3C OTT will be used to train the sensor operators in the P-3C aircraft.
Both training devices are scheduled for delivery in 2014.
The deal is part of a series of contracts signed by CAE, a leading provider of simulation and modeling technologies and integrated training solutions for the aviation industry and defense community, with the US Navy valued at more than US$100 million.
Taiwan procured 12 P-3C aircraft from the US for US$1.9 billion in 2007 following a six-year delay stemming from political infighting and questions over the estimated cost of US$300 million per new plane. Instead, Taiwan opted for the purchase of 12 refurbished aircraft. US firm Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to refurbish the P-3Cs, sold as Excess Defense Articles. The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery to Taiwanese training units in the US in June, Defense News said, with the other 11 to be delivered this year and next.
The P-3Cs, which will play an essential role in anti-submarine warfare, are to replace Taiwan’s aging Grumman S-2T Turbo Trackers acquired in the 1980s. According to Defense News, only a handful of the S-2Ts in the Taiwanese Navy’s lineup are still operational and none are mission capable.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS