The military has posted a NT$126 million (US$3.86 million) open procurement notice for plane propellers, expected to be part of a NT$10 billion air force project to upgrade its C-130 aircraft over the next six years.
While funding for the project, known as Taiwushan III, has not been listed on the Ministry of National Defense’s budget for next year, the preliminary administrative fee of NT$126 million is understood to be required for the upgrade process.
The document lists an exchange rate of US$1 to NT$30.651, indicating a procurement cost of US$4.11 million.
Photo: CNA
The first batch of 12 C-130s purchased from the US, which were assembled in 1984, have been in service for 40 years, the military said.
The Taiwushan projects are initiated based on the purchase dates of the C-130 plane batches, with the most recent project to target the third batch of planes for upgrades.
Upgrades are to include a new cockpit interface suite, increased sea search-and-rescue operations capabilities, GPS, plane location systems and anti-collision systems.
Separately, the ministry said it had detected three Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force planes and six PLA Navy ships in the vicinity of Taiwan between 6am on Tuesday and 6am yesterday.
Two of the PLA Air Force aircraft were combat jets operating in the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait, while the third was a helicopter sighted somewhere off the east coast of Taiwan, it said.
Meanwhile, a balloon originating from a Chinese-held territory passed near Taiwan, about 64 nautical miles (118.53km) northwest of Keelung, at an altitude of about 6,706m, at 8:22am on Tuesday, but disappeared from radar at about 10:25am, it said.
The ministry said it closely monitored the aircraft, scrambling fighters and ships, and preparing coastal-based missile systems.
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,
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