Three Black Hawk helicopters from the US were delivered to Taiwan yesterday and are scheduled to be put into service as rescue aircraft in March, the Ministry of the Interior said.
The UH-60M helicopters arrived at Kaohsiung Port as part of a US$3.1 billion arms deal that was approved by the US in early 2010.
Equipped with forward looking infrared night vision enhancement systems, the three Black Hawks are to be deployed in the National Airborne Service Corps (NASC), particularly for nighttime search-and-rescue missions at sea, the ministry said.
Yesterday’s delivery was the third batch in a fleet of 60 UH-60M Black Hawks in the arms package, which also includes two Osprey Class mine-hunting ships, 12 ATM-84L and RTM-84L Harpoon Block II Telemetry missiles, 114 Patriot Advanced Capability missiles, US$2.82 billion worth of technical support, 35 multifunctional information distribution systems (MIDS) low volume terminals and 25 MIDS on ships terminals.
Of the 60 Black Hawks in the package, 15 are to be given to the NASC to boost its search and rescue fleet of AS-365N Dauphin helicopters, while the others would go to the Army Aviation Special Forces in Guiren, according to the ministry.
A Black Hawk helicopter is capable of carrying 12 troops with equipment, airlifting a 4.1 tonne external payload and taking off with a maximum weight of 10.66 tonnes.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
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