The navy held an anti-submarine drill in waters off Greater Kaohsiung yesterday to highlight its combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
The drill, which was open to the media, simulated an emergency in which the navy dispatched frigates from Zuoying (左營) Naval Base to counter a potential submarine attack by enemy forces.
Two retrofitted US-made coastal minehunters were deployed to sweep the area for mines, and two Chengkung-class frigates, one of them with an S-70C marine-patrol helicopter aboard, were also deployed to participate in the drill.
Photo: Toby Chang, Reuters
The high point of the drill came when the helicopter on the frigate and another S-70C at the naval base were dispatched to locate the “enemy” submarine, followed by a Chingchiang-class patrol vessel’s simulated deployment of a depth charge, which is designed to force a submarine to the surface.
That concluded the exercise, which was conducted in waters about 10 nautical miles (18.5km) from the base, the navy said.
The drill was designed to test the navy’s ability to fend off a possible submarine attack by enemy forces through the use of depth charges and other tactics, navy officials said.
The navy had planned to use a real depth charge, but the plan was canceled due to bad weather conditions, the navy said.
Naval officials said the drill was held to highlight the military’s efforts to stay alert and ensure combat readiness ahead of the holiday, which starts on Jan. 30.
Reporters followed the exercise aboard the frigate Dyihuah — one of six Lafayette-class ships purchased from France in the 1990s.
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
RSS