Locally developed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be commissioned early next year as part of the military’s efforts to build up asymmetric/innovative defense capabilities, local media reported on Monday.
A total of 32 UAVs have been produced in the initial stage of the program, with eight to be deployed in each of the country’s four major combat sectors, the Chinese-language China Times said, citing unnamed senior officials as saying the indigenously produced UAVs can fly as high as 6,000 feet (1,829m) and stay in the air for up to 12 hours.
If Taiwan is threatened, the daily quoted the officials as saying that the remotely piloted aircraft would be able to fly into China’s southeastern coastal airspace to conduct instant reconnaissance missions.
The UAVs were developed by the military-run Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology under a plan code-named “Chunghsiang No. 1.”
They were unveiled at a Double Ten National Day military parade in 2007. Over the following three years, they underwent numerous test flights during the annual Hankuang and Changsheng military exercises. The vehicles managed to meet combat requirements early this year.
In April, eight of them were deployed into two squadrons for experimental service at various army bases around the country. They will be displayed during the National Day military parade on Monday.
Military officials said the institute had spent 10 years developing the UAVs. Initially, the aircraft were supposed to be deployed on the outlying islands to give them access to Chinese airspace in the event of a cross-strait war. However, as tension in the Taiwan Strait has eased in recent years, the military has decided to deploy them only at various military bases on Taiwan proper.
Intelligence sources said China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) already deployed 11 JWP-2 unmanned aerial vehicles and command vehicles at its base at Meizhou Airport in Guangdong Province early this year.
According to the sources, the PLA’s JWP-2 UAVs were showcased in China’s 60th National Day military review in 2009. The Chinese-developed UAVs can be used for wartime reconnaissance and can also be disguised as cruise missiles to consume Taiwan’s expensive and limited number of air-to-air defense missiles, the sources said.
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