The military backs the six defense-related technologies listed by the government as being among Taiwan’s 22 key core technologies to face stringent controls, due to national security reasons, the Ministry of National Defense said on Tuesday.
The six defense-related technologies include military-grade carbon fiber composite; carbon/carbon composite ablation materials; and interference rejection identification friend or foe (IFF) system technologies, the ministry said.
They also include military-grade technologies of microwave/infrared/multi-mode seeker, active phased array radar, and ramjet, a form of air-breathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to take in air for combustion that produces jet thrust, it said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The six technologies made the list according to recommendations by the ministry’s top research unit, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), to safeguard national security, it said in a statement.
The CSIST suggested the technologies based on two criteria, the ministry said.
First, Taiwan has an advantage in domestically developing or building those technologies, and second that it was urgent that they be put under government protection, the ministry said.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said the seeker technologies are particularly important.
The military-grade microwave/infrared/multi-mode seeker technology can enhance the ability of rocket and missile launch platform sensors to better identify and lock in enemy targets, including stealth aircraft, with the technology also used by fighter jets, uncrewed aerial vehicles and warships, he said.
Multi-mode seekers are being deployed for all kinds of rocket launchers, including the indigenous Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missile, Su said.
Beyond the benefits for the nation’s defense industry, the development of these key technologies can also support civilian purposes, such as applying the use of advanced infrared technology to autonomous vehicles, he said.
The six defense technologies were among 22 core technologies listed by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to be under heightened controls to prevent technology leaks and bolster industrial competitiveness.
The 22 technologies cover five industries: defense, aerospace, agriculture, semiconductors and information and communications technology, the NSTC said.
“Key technologies” refer to technologies that, if exported to China, Macau, Hong Kong or “external hostile forces,” would significantly harm national security, industrial competitiveness, or economic development, the NSTC said, citing the National Security Act (國家安全法).
Those found obtaining trade secrets related to national core key technologies by way of “theft, embezzlement, fraud, coercion, unauthorized reproduction, or other improper methods, or using and disclosing them after obtaining them,” may face up to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to NT$100 million (US$3.17 million), as stipulated in the act.
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