The Ministry of National Defense plans to spend more than NT$1.1 billion (US$36 million) to build three special operations and counterterrorism bases over three years for use by the navy and the military police, the ministry’s budget for next year showed.
The navy is to build a multifunctional special operations training base for NT$698.04 million and a maritime special operations training base for NT$134.25 million, while NT$269.21 million has been reserved for a joint special operations training base for the military police, the document said.
The multifunctional base, which is to be equipped with computers that can simulate training scenarios, is slated for use by the Special Service Squadron of the marine corps’ Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit, it said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The program is to have a NT$11.42 million budget next year and base construction should be completed in 2022, it said.
The maritime base is to be used for improving formational and individual combat skills, as well as enhancing amphibious assault and special operations capabilities, it said.
The base is to have facilities for air insertion training and hostage rescue drills on ships, vehicles and airplanes, it said, adding that the base could accommodate the training needs of other military units.
The ministry is to spend NT$4.51 million constructing the maritime base next year and completion is scheduled for 2021, it said.
The joint training base is slated for use by the military police, which has an important role in the defense of Taipei, security operations and urban warfare.
The base is to be capable of simulating conventional military combat, as well as special operations in modern built-up areas, for training of military and regular police units, it said.
The joint training base is to be allotted NT$2.12 million for the portion of the program scheduled for next year and is expected to be completed in 2022, it said.
Separately, the navy next month is to commission two Perry-class guided missile frigates that were bought from the US.
Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Lee Tsung-hsiao (李宗孝) yesterday told the legislature that training and preparations are under way for the commissioning of the two vessels.
When asked how the ships would improve the nation’s defense capability, Lee said that the Perry-class’ anti-submarine capabilities are superior to those of the navy’s eight Cheng Kung-class frigates.
The two frigates, built in the 1980s and named the USS Taylor and USS Gary by the US Navy, were delivered in May last year.
Renamed Ming Chuan (銘傳) and Feng Chia (逢甲), they are to join the navy’s 146th Fleet based in Penghu and would be deployed on patrols in the Taiwan Strait, the navy said.
The vessels are highly mobile and equipped with SQQ-89 undersea warfare combat systems and SQR-19 sonar systems, both of which the navy said would bolster their anti-submarine capabilities.
In December 2014, then-US president Barack Obama authorized the sale of four Perry-class frigates to Taiwan.
The government allocated about NT$5.5 billion for the purchase of two of the ships.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary