If China were to invade Taiwan, it would likely attack by mainly using drones, which have become the face of modern warfare due to their low cost, high efficiency and ability to minimize casualties, former army commander-in-chief general Hu Chen-pu (胡鎮埔) said yesterday.
Hu, head of the Taiwan Association for Strategic Assessment, made the remarks at a seminar hosted by the association in Taipei that addressed the threats to Taiwan’s security posed by Chinese military drones.
The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has put drones at the forefront of modern warfare, Hu said.
Photo: CNA
China has been developing drones at a fast pace in the past few years, and has amassed numerous military drones, which it began using to circle Taiwan a few months ago, he said, adding that the drones that China flew around Taiwan all had combat and reconnaissance capabilities.
Noting that drones are relatively low cost, highly efficient and do not cause any casualties to the user’s side, Hu said that if China were to invade Taiwan, drones would be its primary weapons of choice.
Ou Si-fu (歐錫富), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said China has been regularly employing drones in its military activities since September last year.
The models it has typically used have included ASN drones used by the Chinese People’s Liberation (PLA) and Army Rocket Force, the BZK-005 drone used by the navy, the GJ-1 and WZ-7 drones used by the air force, and the JWP-02 drones used by the Army Rocket Force, he added.
Drones have surveillance, reconnaissance, deception and strike capabilities, and have become ubiquitous in modern warfare, he said.
As China is not part of the Missile Technology Control Regime, it has established itself as a major drone supplier, which is something the world should pay close attention to, he said.
Drones have been widely incorporated in combat beyond the range of target acquisition, hence the nickname “eyes in the sky,” Lo Cheng-fang (羅正方), CEO of Geosat Aerospace & Technology Inc said at the seminar.
Drones with combat and reconnaissance capabilities are to be the focus of Taiwan’s domestic drone development over the next five years, he said.
The Chien Hsiang anti-radiation loitering munitions developed by the state-run weapons developer Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology would be a formidable deterrence in electronic warfare, he added.
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
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man