The army is planning to substantially upgrade its combat stress resistance training facilities, including the incorporation of gunpowder odors and corpses in training scenarios, a defense official said yesterday.
The army’s regional training and evaluation centers in the north and south each operate a facility to simulate close-quarters combat, and units routinely conduct drills in those complexes for psychological conditioning, said the official, who declined to be named.
The service believes the facilities are due for an upgrade, which is planned to be done between next year and 2025, the official said.
Photo courtesy of Military News Agency
To build up soldiers’ mental resilience, new installations and equipment are to focus on smells, disorienting sounds, blasts of cold or hot air and improved audio-visual media, the official said.
The facilities are to incorporate technology that simulates the effect of being shot, the official said, in a likely reference to non-lethal training ammunition.
Renovations and upgrades are planned for large parts of the facilities, including the assembly area, poison gas room, tunnel and trench area, jungle combat zone, jungle house, beach combat zone, urban operations area, urban house, enemy headquarters and debriefing areas, the official said, adding that the facilities also host civil defense camps organized by the Ministry of National Defense.
In other news, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) on Friday said that the satellite imagery on Google Maps that raised public concern because it exposed important military locations have been removed from the Web mapping service’s platform.
After his ministry talked with Google staff, the company removed the 3D images earlier in the day, Yen said at an interpellation session in the Legislative Yuan.
He was responding to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao’s (賴士葆) questions about the satellite images.
The online mapping service had given away the nation’s military secrets, Lai said.
Google has not only removed the images in the cities and counties north of Taichung that had been put online, but also agreed to leave out 3D images of places south of Taichung, Yen said.
Google promised that such an incident would not happen again, Yen added.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it