Poor communication and surveillance capabilities have awakened interest in the military in blimps equipped with powerful sensors to conduct surveillance over disputed territory, possibly including the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) and Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), reports are saying.
According to a recent report in Defense News, interest in acquiring such devices — known as aerostats — to increase the nation’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities increased in the wake of a Sept. 25 incident near the Diaoyutais, during which Japanese Coast Guard vessels engaged in primarily symbolic water cannon exchanges with the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and about 40 Taiwanese fishing vessels.
Citing an unnamed military officer, the report said that the CGA and the navy had struggled to monitor developments during the clashes due largely to limited surveillance capabilities.
The military source said aerostats would be extremely useful if deployed at Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼), located about 55km north of Keelung and 141km east of the Japan-controlled Diaoyutais, as well as on Itu Aba — the largest island in the Spratlys (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) — which is controlled by Taiwan.
However, the source said such deployments would not necessarily constitute further militarization of the islets, because the blimps can also be used for disaster relief, surveillance of civilian maritime vessels, communication and search-and-rescue operations.
Taiwan’s current ISR capabilities in remote areas currently depend on E-2T/K “Hawkeye” early-warning aircraft. Twelve refurbished P-3C “Orion” maritime surveillance aircraft, which Taiwan has purchased from the US, are to augment those capabilities once they enter service starting next year. Taiwan is also developing a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), some of which could have the ability to conduct surveillance at sea, but remains years away from deploying satellites for maritime surveillance.
However, manned aircraft and UAVs have limited loitering time, and the latter have additional payload restrictions due to their size. As near-fixed devices, aerostats or tethered blimps with an ISR component would provide much greater coverage while being more cost-effective and easier to maintain, Defense News said.
According to the article, US-based TCOM, L.P. has recognized Taiwan’s interest in aerostats and may be actively promoting its products — more specifically, aerostats in the 17m, 22m and 28m range, which can operate at altitudes of 300m, 900m and 1,500m respectively.
Ron Davis, in charge of international development at TCOM, will reportedly visit Taiwan early next year to push for a deal, though the company has not provided confirmation.
The industry source told Defense News that the Navy was especially interested in acquiring the company’s 32m Small Aerostat Surveillance System, which comes equipped with an APG-66SR radar and can detect maritime, air and ground targets within an area of 39km2, while staying aloft for up to 14 days.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS