The Ministry of National Defense has signed a NT$339.24 million (US$11.91 million) contract with the US to maintain the army’s Bell AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters, public information on the government’s procurement platform showed.
The contract was signed by a military delegation and the American Institute in Taiwan to secure spare parts and technical support for the army’s AH-1Ws until Sept. 30, 2027, an official said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
The military is replacing the AH-1W with the AH-1Z Viper, but is concerned over potential safety issues such structural aging, even though the legacy fleet’s operational readiness is satisfactory, the official said.
Photo: Tung Chen-kuo, Taipei Times
Some parts are no longer manufactured since the US Marine Corp decommissioned its last AH-1W in October last year, the official said.
Taiwan bought a three-and-a-half year supply of parts for NT$1.46 billion in 2019, which would last until the middle of next year, the official said.
Taiwan bought 42 AH-1Ws in 1992 and another batch of 21 in 1997, although two aircraft were lost due to accidents.
The AH-1Ws are deployed by two attack helicopter squadrons of the 602nd Air Cavalry Brigade.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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