The announcement by the US Department of State on Tuesday that Washington will begin selling armed drones to its allies could be positive for Taiwan and its defense efforts.
Sources familiar with US-Taiwan military ties say the new approach is a potentially positive signal for Taiwan, especially given Taipei’s belief that drones can play an important role in helping the nation defend itself.
The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (中山科學研究院), the nation’s main weapons research and development unit, has developed two types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that it displayed in Taichung in December last year.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The 5kg Cardinal Mini-UAV, designed for reconnaissance missions, has a remote control flight range of 8km and can remain in the air for up to an hour at a time, the institute said.
The 317kg Albatross UAV, with a wing span of 8m, can remain in the air for more than 10 hours and has a range of 150km, the institute said.
The Republic of China Army already uses the Albatross, which can be used both during the day and at night.
The global drone market is now worth more than US$6 billion a year, according to a Washington Post report, citing Steve Zaloga, a senior analyst at aerospace research firm Teal Group Corp.
Zaloga said drones commonly used by the US military, such as the Reaper, can cost US$10 million to US$15 million, the newspaper said.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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