The navy is building a service-wide wireless computer network to reach its goal of real-time information sharing, defense sources said yesterday.
According to a government source, the navy has spent NT$100 million buying "wireless bridges" from a US company.
Most of these linking devices, like wireless cards for notebook computers, are installed on ships and at land-based command posts for the transmission and reception of information.
The navy is the first service of the military to build such a network. The air force has followed, with the army still believing in conventional radio transmissions.
If the network is implemented, the navy will achieve its goal of information sharing between its ships and command centers on shore. But two years have passed and the network is still under construction.
Being the pioneer in the field for the country, the navy has experienced many problems, the Taipei Times was told.
The government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the navy has bought a type of wireless bridge not ideal for the task.
"The wireless bridge used for the network is of commercial specifications, not military ones. It has been found to develop many problems while operating on a ship," the source said.
"What is done cannot be undone. The navy is trying to fix all the problems found with the product. After all these problems are solved, the wireless network will be able to work normally," he said.
Despite the delay in implementing the network, the navy is still confident it can get the job done, officials said.
A naval officer said the network is worthy of the effort because it will enable unprecedented information-sharing.
"A ship, for instance, can ask for vital information from command centers on shore. The information includes data collected by radar and radio stations of the navy. It could be about the surrounding environment of the ship or any other place around the country," the officer said.
"The advantage of the system is to make ships have immediate situational awareness, either of their surroundings or of the environments of friendly ships far away," he said.
"A smaller version of the network has taken shape. An officer can have access to vital information of the service from any part of the country as long as he has a notebook computer and a wireless card," he said.
"The wireless card has to be encrypted, of course. The navy is the first military service to have the system," he said.
The air force is catching up in the building of wireless networks for command and control purposes, while the army lags behind.
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
RSS