If China were to invade Taiwan, it would likely attack by mainly using drones, which have become the face of modern warfare due to their low cost, high efficiency and ability to minimize casualties, former army commander-in-chief general Hu Chen-pu (胡鎮埔) said yesterday.
Hu, head of the Taiwan Association for Strategic Assessment, made the remarks at a seminar hosted by the association in Taipei that addressed the threats to Taiwan’s security posed by Chinese military drones.
The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has put drones at the forefront of modern warfare, Hu said.
Photo: CNA
China has been developing drones at a fast pace in the past few years, and has amassed numerous military drones, which it began using to circle Taiwan a few months ago, he said, adding that the drones that China flew around Taiwan all had combat and reconnaissance capabilities.
Noting that drones are relatively low cost, highly efficient and do not cause any casualties to the user’s side, Hu said that if China were to invade Taiwan, drones would be its primary weapons of choice.
Ou Si-fu (歐錫富), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said China has been regularly employing drones in its military activities since September last year.
The models it has typically used have included ASN drones used by the Chinese People’s Liberation (PLA) and Army Rocket Force, the BZK-005 drone used by the navy, the GJ-1 and WZ-7 drones used by the air force, and the JWP-02 drones used by the Army Rocket Force, he added.
Drones have surveillance, reconnaissance, deception and strike capabilities, and have become ubiquitous in modern warfare, he said.
As China is not part of the Missile Technology Control Regime, it has established itself as a major drone supplier, which is something the world should pay close attention to, he said.
Drones have been widely incorporated in combat beyond the range of target acquisition, hence the nickname “eyes in the sky,” Lo Cheng-fang (羅正方), CEO of Geosat Aerospace & Technology Inc said at the seminar.
Drones with combat and reconnaissance capabilities are to be the focus of Taiwan’s domestic drone development over the next five years, he said.
The Chien Hsiang anti-radiation loitering munitions developed by the state-run weapons developer Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology would be a formidable deterrence in electronic warfare, he added.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
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
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,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
RSS