The air force confirmed another missile glitch during a military drill in Pingtung County yesterday, a day after two MIM-23 Hawk missiles veered off course after they were launched at the same annual military exercise to test precision weapons.
The days-long exercise concluded at 11:20am yesterday at the Jioupeng Military Base (九鵬基地), the air force said in a statement.
“The air force will conduct a thorough review, as soon as possible, on all problems identified during the drill,” it said.
The statement came in response to a report by the Chinese-language Apple Daily earlier in the day that an Indigenous Defense Fighter had launched a Tien Chien (Sky Sword) II missile, but the missile failed to ignite and fell directly into the sea.
The reason for the incident is still under investigation, the report said.
The missile fell into the sea off the coast of southeastern Taiwan, a military source said.
Yesterday’s incident came after two MIM-23 Hawk missiles veered off course a day earlier. There were no reported casualties.
The two missiles were fired as part of an annual precision weapons drill conducted jointly by the army, navy and air force.
Due to fuel combustion problems, the missiles veered off course shortly after being launched and exploded within a restricted area, the air force said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS