The air force is expected next year to finish upgrading its TPS/FPS-117 radars to counter the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) stealth fighters and drones, the Ministry of National Defense’s budget showed.
Taiwan operates 11 Lockheed Martin TPS/FPS-117 active electronically scanned array radars, with seven fixed-position systems and four mounted on vehicles, the budget showed.
The project was part of a 2020 initiative to update the systems, which have been in service for more than 20 years, and has been allotted NT$1.49 billion (US$46.3 million), of which NT$476 million remained, it showed.
Photo: Screen grab from Lockheed Martin’s Web site
The update would boost the radar’s ability to detect low-observability or stealthy targets and increase early warning time for joint air defense, interception and homeland defense operations, it said.
The project also helps incentivize suppliers to keep the assembly lines for the legacy systems open, the ministry showed.
The ground-based radars must be upgraded to handle the Chengdu J-20 and new uncrewed aerial vehicles entering PLA service, a defense official said, on condition of anonymity.
Some of the low-observability aircraft were known to have participated in military exercises conducted by Beijing near Taiwan, they said.
The TPS/FPS-117, which Taiwan obtained via a US arms transfer in 2002, are crucial systems for defending the nation’s eastern seaboard given their 463km detection range and 30,480m search altitude.
Next year, the air force would send three experts to the US to conduct acceptance tests, evaluate the manufacturer’s ability to provide logistical support and attend seminars on maintaining the upgraded systems, the official said.
In other news, the ministry said China had launched a satellite-bearing rocket over Taiwan on Double Ten National Day on Thursday.
The rocket took off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province and had transited to extra-atmospheric space over the central region of Taiwan proper before reaching orbit, it said.
The launch was detected at 9:50pm and deemed not to be an immediate threat to Taiwan due to the rocket’s altitude, it said.
Taiwanese armed forces continue to surveil Chinese activities with multiple capabilities to remain vigilant and be able to promptly react to dangers, the ministry said.
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