The US is to help Taiwan obtain NATO’s Link-22 secure data link system, a Ministry of National Defense official said on Thursday.
Lee Shih-chiang (李世強), head of the ministry’s Department of Strategic Planning, made the statement at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs nd National Defense Committee following a local media report that the military is seeking to acquire the NATO system.
Link-22 is a secure digital radio system that is primarily used by military forces as a tactical data link. It is able to provide beyond line-of-sight communications that interconnects air, surface, subsurface and ground-based tactical data systems, while also facilitating the exchange of tactical data among the military units of participating nations.
Photo courtesy of the NATO Improved Link Eleven Project Management Office
Lee was also asked whether NATO’s secure system would be interoperable with the tactical data systems used by Taiwan’s military.
Lee said there were no problems with its own data link systems, but Link-22 enables a direct data link with the US military.
Sources have said that Taiwan is seeking to upgrade its existing system to Link-22, aiming to integrate the command and control systems, missiles and platforms developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), an associate research fellow with the National Policy Foundation in Taipei, said that Taiwan’s data link system is based on Link-16.
Link-22, an upgraded version, boasts greater anti-jamming capabilities and improves command efficiency, while providing faster communications transmissions, Chieh added.
The NATO system can complement and interoperate easily with Link-16, Chieh said.
In the event of an attack, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army would definitely attempt to jam Taiwan’s communications systems through electronic warfare and Link-22 could help prevent that, he said.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that NATO’s Link-22 was designed to improve the performance of Link-11, as it works on high frequency and ultra-high-frequency bands that can operate long distances without the need for a satellite.
Link-22 features an automatic grouping function that can fully map out the positions of enemy and friendly forces via a common operational picture, Su said.
The system’s long-distance transmission capability would greatly improve Taiwan’s combat effectiveness, while strengthening strategic, operational and tactical applications, he added.
Politically, if the US agrees to help Taiwan upgrade to the Link-22 system, that would mean NATO members have agreed to it, Chieh said.
Sources familiar with the matter said that China’s XS-3 and DTS-03 data link systems are superior to Taiwan’s Link-16.
The US assisting Taiwan in upgrading to Link-22 would be of great benefit to national defense and future military cooperation, the sources said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS