The navy yesterday unveiled two refurbished minesweepers acquired from the US last year during a demonstration in waters off Greater Kaohsiung simulating a submarine intrusion.
A Lafayette-class frigate with media onboard, accompanied by two Chengkung-class frigates, a German-made minesweeper and two Osprey-class mine hunters headed into the Taiwan Strait to seek out an intruder submarine.
The mine hunters — MHC 1310 and 1311 — were obtained in August.
Photo: Reuters
Six Kuang Hua VI fast-attack missile boats, an S-2T Turbo Tracker anti-submarine aircraft and an S-70C helicopter, which dropped a sonobuoy to locate the enemy submarine, were also involved in the drill.
A navy Hai Lung submarine surfaced after the S-70 dropped a Mk46 torpedo.
It was the first time that the Osprey mine hunters had been on public display.
A number of vessels anchored at Tsuoying Naval Base, including some that participated in the exercise, showed that progress is being made in a NT$12 billion (US$406 million) program launched in May 2011 to outfit the Chengkung frigates, as well as the domestically made Ching Chiang-class patrol boats, with Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles.
Four HF-3 launchers were seen on the two Chengkung-class frigates, PFG 1105 and PFG 1109, that took part in the exercise. In all, 120 HF-3s are to be added to the navy’s arsenal under the program.
Taiwan’s submarine chasing capabilities will be substantially enhanced after it receives 12 refurbished US P-3C Orion maritime aircraft to replace the aging S-2Ts, which were acquired in the 1980s.
Navy officials said the exercise highlighted the nation’s military preparedness and combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year.
A second day of exercises is planned for today at army and air force bases in Hualien.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
RSS