Wed, Feb 13, 2019 page3

• Report details military acquisition plans

  PRIORITIES: Defense planning and arms acquisition by the military should focus on using innovative and asymmetric methods, the Executive Yuan Policy Report said

  • By Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  The acquisition of new main battle tanks, next-generation guided missile frigates and armed uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) are top budget priorities for the military this year, according to the latest Executive Yuan Policy Report published on Jan. 31.

  The Cabinet submits an Executive Yuan Policy Report at the start of each new legislative session, with a new one scheduled to begin on Friday.

  Strong defense and multiple-layered deterrence, force protection, winning the decisive battle for the littoral seas, and annihilating the enemy on the beachhead remain the key doctrines, the report said.

  

  An anti-radiation armed uncrewed aerial vehicle developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is pictured in an undated photograph.

  Photo: Lo Tien-pin, Taipei Times

  Under those concepts, defense planning and arms acquisition by the military should focus on using innovative and asymmetric methods, achieving local superiority and building a dependable combat force, it said.

  Aside from the acquisition of main weapons, the procurement and fielding of weapon systems stemming from the push last year to rapidly improve the military’s combat power — including new infantry fighting vehicles, heavy long-range submarine-launched torpedoes and F-16A/B upgrades — should continue, it said.

  Furthermore, the advanced trainer jet program — a critical component to building a self-reliant defense sector — has entered the assembly and manufacturing phase, and a prototype is projected to be rolled out by September, it said.

  Intelligence gathering and electronic communications capabilities are to be stepped up, so that the military can detect and track Chinese military activities near or around Taiwan’s territorial seas, as well as other regional developments, the report said.

  To counter changes in technology and adversarial capabilities, the military’s cyber and electronic warfare capabilities should be overhauled, it said.

  Information technology training and education, security measures, and communications, command and control systems are areas that would be targets for improvement this year, it said.

  The military is to enhance training and education to develop information technology expertise, bolster security measures, and boost the capability of communications platforms and command-and-control systems, it added.

  It is to replace the fiber-optic cables in its information infrasctructure with satellite equipment, which would augment the security and efficiency of command, control and communications, it said.

  The armed UAV would most likely be a new missile-armed variant of the “Tengyun,” a heavy reconnaissance drone under development at the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, a defense official who requested anonymity separately said on Monday.

  Additionally, the anti-radiation drone the institute unveiled last year is to begin trial sometime this year, the official said.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Dozens of Taiwanese missing in China

  • 2

    Chinese who disrupted HK event deported

  • 3

    Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh badge a hit at Japan festival

  • 4

    PRC could not be ‘motherland,’ William Lai says

  • 5

    Donovan’s Deep Dives: China is already at war with Taiwan and countries across the globe