Taiwan has signed an NT$11.25 billion (US$345.5 million) contract with the US to procure infrared search and track (IRST) systems that, according to a military source, are to be used for F-16V jets.
A notice posted yesterday on the Government e-Procurement System said that the deal to procure the systems was signed by the Ministry of Defense’s Defense Mission to the US and the American Institute in Taiwan on June 25.
The contract is valid from the day it was signed to Dec. 31, 2030.
Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP
The systems, which were first announced in an arms sale package of the IRST systems and 16 related items on Aug. 23 last year, would be used on Taiwan’s fleet of 66 F-16V jets ordered from the US, a military source with knowledge of the matter said.
According to the notice on the procurement system, the contract’s supervising agency is the air force, with an address corresponding to the Zhi-Hang Air Base in Taitung County, where the F-16Vs are to be stationed.
The ministry said the new-generation IRST systems were developed specifically for the F-16V and would vastly enhance the fighters’ target acquisition and tracking capabilities, as well as their overall air combat performance.
Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌), an expert at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, last year told reporters that the IRSTs could be effectively deployed against China’s fifth-generation fighters.
The systems are capable of picking up heat signatures emitted by aircraft such as engine exhausts, and heat generated by friction between the fuselage and the air, giving it the upper hand on China’s new fighters, which would be otherwise hard to detect due to their compact radar cross-section, Shu said.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS