The Ministry of National Defense has chosen one of four proposals to design new fatigues for the three service arms of the military, officials said on Tuesday.
Once the ministry’s budget permits and it decides to replace the existing fatigue design, which has been used since 1995, the new design will be mass produced for the air force, army and navy, the Armaments Bureau said.
The new design, aimed at enhancing combat capabilities, was unveiled during a media tour at the bureau’s 203rd Arsenal in Greater Kaohsiung, which is responsible for the fatigues project.
The new uniform, with its digitally generated pattern, will render military forces significantly less detectable to the enemy and its cotton and nylon blend will make it comfortable to wear in all seasons, a bureau official said.
Another product of the country’s defense technology research and development program displayed during the tour was paint used on military aircraft that has earned international recognition.
The Taiwan-developed paint has been applied to its F-16A/B, IDF, C-130 and other aircraft, Captain Lin Ching-wu said.
Texas-headquartered Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co has also certified the 203rd Arsenal’s paint manufacturing facility, Lin said.
“This shows that our paint is of a very high quality and reaches international standards,” Lin said.
The arsenal has also invented a portable, multifunctional tent that is easy to carry. The 1.7kg single-person tent can be set up and packed away in five seconds, Lieutenant Colonel Chou Fei-yeu (周飛宇) said, adding that the outer part of the tent could also be used as a raincoat.
The tent set, which includes a mattress and a pillow made from memory foam, ensures military personnel get a good night’s rest while on drills in the wild or carrying out rescue missions in disaster-stricken areas, Chou said.
The tents could also be provided to residents of disaster-stricken areas, Chou added.
Assisting relief work in the event of natural disasters such as flooding and earthquakes is one of the core missions of Taiwan’s military. Designed by the arsenal and manufactured by private companies, the new tent is already being used by some units, Chou said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
RSS