Taiwan’s first locally designed and built manufacturing facility to produce missile propellant was officially opened at a ceremony in Pingtung County yesterday, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology said.
The new plant at the institute’s Jiupeng-area facilities in Pingtung’s Manzhou Township (滿州) will help meet the armed forces’ demand for mass production of missiles, as well as facilitate further research and development of rocket propellants, the institute said in a statement.
It took three years to build the NT$540 million (US$18.16 million) facility, which houses a 300 gallon (1,364 liter) mixer, a 50 gallon mixer and storage units, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology
It is part of the institute’s project to produce and develop new missiles as Taiwan boosts its air and naval defense capabilities, it said.
As propellant mixers are considered strategic equipment in several countries and exports are restricted, the institute worked with more than 30 companies in Taiwan to build the facility, the statement said.
The 300 gallon mixer has several safety mechanisms, including an internal fire-suppression system, infrared monitoring and a system to warn if temperatures, vibrations or other factors are irregular, it said.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
RSS