The first of a batch of marine patrol aircraft purchased from the US will arrive in the country today or tomorrow depending on the impact of Typhoon Usagi, according to media reports.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday that according to the air force, the P-3C Orion will take off from the US and stop in Guam or Hawaii before arriving at Pingtung Air Force Base.
The aircraft will be flown by US pilots with Taiwanese air force personnel on board, the report said.
The manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, has posted pictures of the P3C carrying Republic of China Air Force markings, the report said.
The military has said that Taiwan would take delivery of four P-3Cs by the end of this year, which will bolster anti-submarine capabilities. The aircraft will be the first of 12 to be delivered by the end of 2015.
The P3Cs and associated equipment and services, worth US$1.96 billion, are part of an arms deal valued at US$2.23 billion announced by the US in 2007.
A new facility has been built in Pingtung County for the repair and maintenance of the P-3Cs. The 26 S-2T aircraft that currently fulfil maritime patrol duties, which were purchased in 1986, can only remain airborne for four hours, compared with the P-3C’s 12 hours. In addition the P-3C has a range of 2,800 nautical miles (5,185km) compared with the S-2T’s 450 nautical miles.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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