A military enthusiast yesterday posted photographs of Taiwanese F-16 jets taking off from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu with two refueling aircraft, presumably returning to Taiwan from the US for upgrades.
Asked about the matter, the Ministry of National Defense declined to comment.
The jets had been part of training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and had briefly landed in Honolulu, where the photographer, Aeros808, had spotted them, a source said.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
The jets did not land in Guam, which had been done in 1996 when the US Air Force delivered F-16s to Taiwan, the source said, adding that the jets were refueled mid-air eight times.
The air force had launched two F-16Vs to escort the jets, while officials cleared the perimeter of Hualien Air Base of unauthorized people.
The jets are to undergo an inspection before their departure for Ching Chuang Kang Air Base, where they are to be upgraded, the source said.
Separately, the navy said that it has commissioned the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology to manufacture a range of mid to long-range radars, which would be used to upgrade naval radar stations across the nation.
The upgrades would improve the navy’s ability to monitor Chinese naval movements, it said.
The navy has numerous radar stations on Taiwan proper, and on Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu.
Many of the stations operate outdated equipment and cannot deliver results that meet the navy’s expectations, it said.
The first phase of the upgrades, at an estimated cost of NT$250 million (US$8.93 million), is expected to be completed by the end of this year, the navy said.
The navy is contemplating following the air force’s lead in establishing an information hub for all radar feeds to minimize casualties in the event of an attack.
Such a hub would have to be implemented in stages, as it is dependent on regional radar station locations and how cables are to be routed, the navy said.
‘SHANDONG’
In other news, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s Shandong carrier group is slowly moving northward after wrapping up “routine exercises” in the South China Sea earlier this month, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the carrier group and would keep tabs on its movement regardless of whether it moves through the Taiwan Strait or takes another route.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Defense experts have warned that the ‘Shandong,’ China’s second largest aircraft carrier, poses a serious threat to eastern Taiwan’s defenses The drills conducted by the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong in the Western Pacific last week were more aimed at showcasing China’s military capabilities to the US rather than toward Taiwan, a Taiwanese defense expert said yesterday. Lin Yin-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the drills which involved dozens of warplanes sought to test China’s anti-access and area denial capabilities should the US and its allies attempt to interfere in a cross-strait conflict. Lin said that the latest Chinese drills coincided with a joint maritime exercise conducted by the US, South Korea
Thousands of bottles of Sriracha have been returned or destroyed after the discovery of excessive sulfur dioxide, a bleaching agent, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday. About 12,600 bottles totaling 9,991.8kg of the hot sauce imported from the US by Emporium Corp (河洛企業) were flagged at the border for containing illegal levels of sulfur dioxide, the FDA said in its regular border inspection announcement. Inspectors discovered 0.5g per kilogram of the common bleaching agent and preservative, higher than the 0.03g permitted, it said. As it is the first time within six months the product has been flagged, Sriracha products from
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
CHANGES: While NCCU opened the nation’s first co-ed dorm in Mucha, a recent survey showed that Taiwanese are in favor of abolishing gender segregation at high schools National Chengchi University (NCCU) has opened a co-ed dormitory, a first in Taiwan among state-funded Taiwan universities. The 22 duplexes are at the renovated “Huanan New Village,” in Taipei City’s Mucha (木柵) area, near the NCCU campus, a school official said yesterday. Twenty-two out of 37 group applications were selected in a lottery draw to select who would be chosen to live in the units, which can either be shared by up to eight students if the unit has four bedrooms, or up to 10 students if it is a five-bedroom unit, officials said. Completed in 1964 for campus staff housing,
RSS