Taiwan reached another defense milestone after the domestically developed Teng Yun 2 drone stayed airborne for more than 20 hours during its most recent test flight, a source said yesterday.
The drone broke its first record in June last year when it flew for 10 hours straight, following the entire perimeter of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
The new 20-hour record means that the drone could be used to monitor the Taiwan Strait for nearly an entire day at a time, the source said.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
Designed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the Teng Yun 2, or “Cloud Rider 2” (騰雲二型), can operate day and night in all weather conditions, and is capable of aerial image surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic parameter reconnaissance, electronic interference, meteorological observation and relaying signals.
The Teng Yun 2 is a large, long-endurance, satellite-guided, medium-altitude drone that can carry multiple payloads, meaning that it can be used for surveillance or strike missions, information from the institute showed.
It can also take off and land autonomously, and has multiple guidance and control links, as well as ground-networked communication links.
“During a combat scenario, the drone could provide remote, real-time surveillance information, and could play an important early warning role,” the source said.
The Teng Yun 2 is expected to be used by the military alongside US-made MQ-9 Reaper drones, with the Reapers being responsible for high-altitude surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and the Teng Yun 2 to be used for medium and low-altitude missions, the source said.
The drone’s capabilities would give the military more flexible and robust surveillance capabilities, they said.
“However, the number of drones that the air force will purchase is still undetermined, and that would affect how they are deployed,” the source said.
The Chinese military is also developing drones, which it hopes will strengthen its surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, so Taiwan’s military must simultaneously surveil at different altitudes to give it an advantage, the source said.
In other military news, the Ministry of National Defense said that over the past 24 hours it had detected eight Chinese fighter jets crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, as well as one Chinese balloon.
The ministry said the Chinese J-10, J-11 and J-16 fighter jets had crossed the median line to the north and center of the Strait.
The median line once served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides, but Chinese planes now regularly fly over it.
Taiwan sent its own forces to monitor the fighter jets, the ministry said.
The ministry also reported another Chinese balloon in the Strait.
Taipei officials have said the balloons are most likely for monitoring the weather, and the spate of sightings could be due to the direction of winds.
The balloon was spotted after crossing the median line late on Saturday morning, 97 nautical miles (180km) northwest of Keelung at an altitude of approximately 6,100m, the ministry said, adding that it headed east and disappeared about an hour later.
The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February when the US shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon. China said the balloon was a civilian craft that had accidentally drifted into the US.
Additional reporting by Reuters
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
The zero emissions ship Porrima P111 was launched yesterday in Kaohsiung, showcasing the nation’s advancement in green technology, city Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said. The nation last year acquired the Swiss-owned vessel, formerly known as Turanor PlanetSolar, in a bid to boost Taiwan’s technology sector, as well as ecotourism in Palau, Chen said at the ship’s launch ceremony at Singda Harbor. Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) also attended the event. The original vessel was the first solar-powered ship to circumnavigate the globe in a voyage from 2010 to 2012. Taiwan-based Porrima Inc (保利馬) installed upgrades with
ENHANCE DETERRENCE: Taiwan has to display ‘fierce resolve’ to defend itself for China to understand that the costs of war outweigh potential gains, Koo said Taiwan’s armed forces must reach a high level of combat readiness by 2027 to effectively deter a potential Chinese invasion, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) published yesterday. His comments came three days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the US Senate that deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan requires making a conflict “cost more than what it’s worth.” Rubio made the remarks in response to a question about US policy on Taiwan’s defense from Republican Senator John Cornyn, who said that Chinese
RSS