The nation is to send 32 pilot-instructors to the US for flight training on UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters later this year as part of a bilateral arms purchase agreement, but legislators continue to question the government’s decision to allocate some of the new choppers to rescue and disaster-relief missions.
Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) said the pilot-instructor groups are to head to the US in July for the five-month training program and return to Taiwan at the end of the year, accompanying the delivery of another new batch of the helicopters.
At the meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee, Chen said US training of Taiwan’s aviation personnel on flying UH-60s was included in the terms of the government’s US$3.1 billion procurement of 60 Black Hawk helicopters, with final delivery expected by the end of 2018.
However, some legislators criticized the government’s overall policy on the program, citing the decision to incorporate 15 Black Hawks into the National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) under the Ministry of the Interior for rescue and disaster relief missions.
The original intent of the procurement was to put the helicopters into military service under the Ministry of National Defense (MND) because the Black Hawks are sophisticated attack helicopters armed with advanced weapons and are primarily designed for combat.
“The plan is for this NASC helicopter squadron to be based in Taichung. They will be dispatched for civilian rescues and other emergency missions in support of MOI agencies, including the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and the National Fire Agency,” Chen said.
Democratic Progressive Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said the interior ministry’s plan is flawed because the Black Hawks cannot land on CGA boats or other small ships used by the navy to patrol the nation’s nearshore waters.
“The deck area on these patrol ships is too small for these helicopters to land. So it is impossible for the Black Hawks to engage in search-and-rescue and other disaster-relief missions at sea. This is a wrong-headed policy and is a total waste of taxpayers’ money,” Chuang said.
NASC Director-General Tung Chian-cheng (董劍城) responded by saying the NASC is currently training for seaborne missions with the existing AS365 Dauphin 2 squadron, which are made by the Eurocopter consortium.
Tung admitted that the inadequate deck space on these ships for UH-60 helicopters to land is a big problem, and no solution has been found yet.
However, Tung said the Black Hawks can fly longer distances than the Dauphin 2s and he said he is confident the new helicopters could carry out most seaborne rescue and relief missions from their airport base.
Tung added that plans can be adjusted and revised when the pilot-instructors return back to Taiwan at the end of the year with the new helicopter delivery, as the NASC will conduct more joint exercises at sea with CGA patrol boats.
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Taiwan yesterday issued warnings to four Chinese coast guard vessels that intruded into restricted waters around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The four China Coast Guard ships were detected approaching restricted waters south of Kinmen at around 2 pm yesterday, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu Branch said in a statement. The CGA said it immediately deployed four patrol boats to closely monitor the situation. When the Chinese ships with the hull numbers "14512," "14609," "14603" and "14602" separately entered the restricted waters off Fuhsing islet (復興嶼), Zhaishan (翟山), Sinhu (新湖) and Liaoluo (料羅) at 3 pm, the Taiwanese patrol
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
RSS