President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday touted the capabilities of the nation’s latest maritime patrol aircraft, as the military showed off a newly delivered Lockheed P-3C Orion at an air force base in Pingtung County.
“As the president of the country, I’m proud that the aircraft is joining the force,” Ma said at a ceremony at the air force’s 439th Combined Wing base.
“The P-3C fleet will help Taiwan better protect navigational safety and give Taiwan a naval edge, thanks to its highly advanced reconnaissance surveillance and communications systems,” he said.
Photo: AFP
The air force took delivery of the plane on Sept. 25.
Three more aircraft are scheduled to arrive by the end of the year, five more next year and another three in 2015, when the 12-strong squadron will be commissioned, Ma said
The aircraft was manufactured in 1973 and has been mothballed ever since.
Experts say the refurbished P-3Cs, which can stay in the air for up to 17 hours and are armed with Harpoon missiles and MK46 torpedoes, will expand the nation’s maritime surveillance patrol capabilities tenfold
“After upgrading key parts and components, it is as good as those currently in service in the United States,” Ma said.
“Despite the warming ties with China over the past five years, it does not mean that we can allow our national defense to slacken off,” he said.
As China has not changed its military policies against Taiwan, “we have to be fully prepared,” he said.
The P-3Cs will replace a squadron of 11 S-2T anti-submarine aircraft that have been in service for more than 40 years, the air force said.
The S-2Ts will be completely decommissioned in 2017, the air force said, adding that components and the engines from the aircraft will go to private groups to be exhibited or to schools for educational purposes.
Sixteen pilots are undergoing P-3C flight training in the US that is due to be completed in the middle of next year, the air force said.
The US government approved the sale of the 12 P-3Cs to Taiwan in 2007.
Additional reporting by AFP
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS