Testing of the long-delayed Field Information Communications System (FICS) was completed in the US last month and the first batch is expected to arrive in Taiwan by the fourth quarter this year, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday last week.
The system would increase the information transmission and reception capabilities of field units to ensure mobile command and control capabilities, the ministry said.
With Internet protocol digital network switching functions baked in, the FICS is expected to be compatible and seamlessly integrate with the core networks of Taiwan’s military communications, satellite and other information communication systems, it said.
Photo: Screen grab from the Web site of the Ramim Engineering Works
The FICS would also provide weapons systems such as the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System with greater accuracy and improve the army’s coastal strike capabilities, it said.
The Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command said the project to purchase the FICS was initiated in 2020 and was expected to replace the army’s Tactical Area Communication System by 2027.
The project, which cost NT$7.81 billion (US$257.8 million), is expected to be supplemented by monitoring systems and encryption methods developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the command said.
The FICS is expected to be installed on the military’s fleet of M1097A2 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, which were refurbished in 2023, it said.
The command said it attended a procurement management review in the US in June last year, during which the US Army provided the project road map, with the first batch to be ready for delivery by the end of this year.
The command said that it finalized the subsystems manufacturing contract with the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology at two meetings in September and October last year.
The institute would work closely with its US counterparts to ensure that its encryption devices are integrable, with joint tests to be conducted by the command, the US Army and the institute, the command said.
The command is working closely with the institute to ensure that the procurement of the cybersecurity subsystems, the construction of chassis and collaboration with the US go according to plan, it said.
The command said that it has the final say on whether the procurement of the subsystems goes ahead, preventing exclusive specifications of key technologies from becoming an obstacle for the overall system upgrade.
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