Taiwan has become the first country to make an international purchase of the Block III Longbow Fire Control Radar (FCR), a powerful target acquisition and prioritization system and a key component of the AH-64D Apache helicopter.
This was made official in a Lockheed Martin Corp press release on Wednesday, which stated that Longbow Limited Liability Co, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman Corp, had received a US$181 million contract from the US Army for AH-64D Apache Block III Longbow systems.
According to the press release, the contract includes the first international purchase of the Block III Longbow Fire Control Radar (FCR), for a total of 15 Block III Longbow FCR systems.
Photo: Boeing Web site
The Boeing Co-made Apaches are part of a US$6.4 billion arms package notified to US Congress in October 2008. The 30 attack helicopters will cost Taiwan an estimated US$2.5 billion and will supplement the AH-1W Super Cobra that has been used by the Taiwanese army since 1993. The notification also included 1,000 AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missiles and 66 M299 Hellfire Longbow missile launchers.
Wednesday’s announcement represents the first batch of Longbow radar systems for Taiwan, with orders for the remaining 15 expected to be placed sometime in the future.
“The Longbow Apache is the world’s premier attack helicopter and the FCR is one of the key elements that make it that way,” Colonel Shane Openshaw, US Army project manager for the Apache helicopters, was quoted as saying.
The FCR provides all-terrain and all-weather detection, location, classification and prioritization of multiple air and ground targets, the Web site says. As it is mounted atop the helicopter’s main rotor, the FCR enhances the Apache’s ability to acquire and track targets without being detected. The Longbow FCR integrates with the Hellfire missile, enhancing the Apache’s lethality fourfold and increasing its survivability sevenfold, the release says.
The first Apache is scheduled for delivery in October. Taiwan’s acquisition of the world’s most advanced combat helicopter is part of a project codenamed Tian Ying, or “Sky Eagle.”
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