The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has signed two deals worth NT$12.84 billion (US$419.31 million) with the US for parts and aviation materials to maintain Taiwan’s fighter jet fleet.
The ministry signed the agreements with the American Institute in Taiwan — NT$9.9 billion for spare parts and NT$2.94 billion for nonstandard parts and aviation materials — it said in a public contract notice on Friday.
The spare parts contract is to be implemented from this month to March 2028, while the smaller agreement also starts from this month through June 2027, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
The air force is under immense strain to maintain jets as it is flying numerous missions in response to China’s constant military incursions into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), a defense official said on condition of anonymity.
Fighters have been scrambled to shadow Chinese jets and large uncrewed aerial vehicles, while also conducting other missions, including reconnaissance flights by RF-16s, they said.
The missions haven taken a heavy toll on Taiwanese aircraft and led to a significant increase in demand for parts and materials, they said, adding that the navy has also been obliged to deploy warships to monitor Chinese military vessels.
The military has already exhausted its budget for jet and ship fuel because of attempts to counter Beijing’s activities, the official said, adding that the Executive Yuan released NT$1.68 billion from its reserve funds for fuel.
The military from early Thursday to early yesterday detected 19 aircraft sorties, including 10 that crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered the country’s southwestern ADIZ, in addition to five naval sorties in waters around Taiwan, the ministry said.
In other news, members of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee are on Thursday to tour a facility of CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船), the company contracted to build a prototype of an indigenous submarine.
The visit was listed in the legislators’ public schedules, although the purpose of the tour was classified.
The prototype submarine utilizes a partial double-hull design consisting of six pressurized compartments and a conning tower, with an X-shaped tail rudder and stabilizing fins on the sides of the tower, CBSC said.
The 70m-long submarine is to carry 18 MK-48 torpedoes and an undisclosed number of ship-launched Harpoon missiles. It is to have a displacement of 2,500 to 3,000 tonnes.
CSBC is in the process of completing the submarine’s pressure hull and said it expects to launch the vessel in September.
Last month, the defense ministry invited professors and students of engineering to attend a presentation on the making of the prototype and tour CSBC’s submarine factory in Keelung’s Jhongjheng District (中正).
CSBC used computer models to simulate the submarine’s assembly and a mock-up of the vessel has been built to train maintenance personnel, an attendee of the tour said in an article published anonymously on the Chinese-language online news outlet Up Media.
The factory at that time was working on the bow torpedo tubes, which is the most critical step in manufacturing the pressure hull, the person said.
The use of a large five-axis computer numerical control machine showed that crews were paying careful attention to reducing the vessel’s weight, they added.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or