The air force would increase its efforts to receive the Executive Yuan’s approval for a project to upgrade the capabilities of 19 C-130 Hercules aircraft, which is estimated to cost more than NT$10 billion (US$307.889 million), sources said yesterday.
It is also pushing to include the project in the fiscal budget for next year, the sources said.
The project would include upgrades to the planes’ chassis, a digitization overhaul of the pilot cockpit avionics, including GPS systems, counter-electronic warfare equipment and upgrades to communication and flight assist subsystems, they said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The anonymous military officials said the project also covers upgrades to ground warning systems and anti-collision warning systems.
Most importantly, the C-130H is one of several plane types that can be dispatched outside of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone and, after refitting and upgrades, would be more in line with international civil aviation regulations, they said.
It would also increase Taiwan’s capability to conduct international humanitarian missions, they added.
The government has had plans to upgrade the planes since it received them from the US in 1986, but plans had constantly been delayed as other projects were prioritized, military officials said.
The air force has sent the project for approval, Air Force Sixth Wing 10th Group Political Warfare Department Colonel Wang Yi-ching (王怡靜) said in a media interview in January.
Taiwan would just be an observer at this year’s C-130 Technical Coordination Group International Technical Program Review, Wang said on the nation’s participation in the event.
“We hope, however, to become a full member and fly our C-130s along with a full crew, [and] to officially participate in the event,” Wang said.
The frequency of conducting joint exercises with countries that are friendly toward Taiwan has been increasing over the past years, and on many occasions, the C-130H was the go-to transportation used in bringing personnel and equipment to where the exercises are held, sources in the military said.
This highlights the importance upgrading the C-130H, they said.
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