US defense giant Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its bid to supply Taiwan with an early-warning radar system as the country was reconsidering the controversial arms deal, leading defense journal Jane's Defense Weekly said.
Taiwan's military authorities were re-evaluating the proposed deal due to several factors, including the system's vulnerability, inability to detect cruise missiles and environmental concerns, Jane's quoted a Taiwan defense source as saying in an article to be published Wednesday.
"A large stationary radar like Pave Paws would be an easy target for anti-radiation missiles," the source said.
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon had been expected to submit proposals this year to supply a radar aimed at countering the ballistic missile threat from China, Jane's said. Lockheed Martin was offering a modified version of the Medium Extended Air Defence System, while Raytheon a modified AN/FPS-115 Pave Paws radar.
President Chen Shui-bian (
Taiwan last year requested the sale of two ultra high frequency long-range early warning radars capable of detecting ballistic and cruise missiles for a price of nearly US$1.8 billion, the Pentagon said.
But critics of the radar deal argue that both systems are insufficient, given the cost involved and the short distance across the Strait. The additional six minutes' warning they would provide offers few advantages, they contend.
Washington has nudged Taiwan to invest in spy satellites and electronic eavesdropping aircraft, missile defenses, anti-submarine warfare systems and data-links that would give commanders a common picture of their operations.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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