Taiwan has signed an NT$11.25 billion (US$345.5 million) contract with the US to procure infrared search and track (IRST) systems that, according to a military source, are to be used for F-16V jets.
A notice posted yesterday on the Government e-Procurement System said that the deal to procure the systems was signed by the Ministry of Defense’s Defense Mission to the US and the American Institute in Taiwan on June 25.
The contract is valid from the day it was signed to Dec. 31, 2030.
Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP
The systems, which were first announced in an arms sale package of the IRST systems and 16 related items on Aug. 23 last year, would be used on Taiwan’s fleet of 66 F-16V jets ordered from the US, a military source with knowledge of the matter said.
According to the notice on the procurement system, the contract’s supervising agency is the air force, with an address corresponding to the Zhi-Hang Air Base in Taitung County, where the F-16Vs are to be stationed.
The ministry said the new-generation IRST systems were developed specifically for the F-16V and would vastly enhance the fighters’ target acquisition and tracking capabilities, as well as their overall air combat performance.
Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌), an expert at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, last year told reporters that the IRSTs could be effectively deployed against China’s fifth-generation fighters.
The systems are capable of picking up heat signatures emitted by aircraft such as engine exhausts, and heat generated by friction between the fuselage and the air, giving it the upper hand on China’s new fighters, which would be otherwise hard to detect due to their compact radar cross-section, Shu said.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he