The army recently concluded two rounds of drills in Pingtung County testing the precision shooting capabilities of its missiles and rockets, the Military News Agency reported yesterday.
The two rounds of live-fire exercises included the annual “Mighty Eagle” exercises featuring the Aviation and Special Forces Command’s attack helicopter series: the AH-64E Apache and AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters, and the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior reconnaissance helicopter, the report said.
During the daytime portion of the “Mighty Eagle” drill, the helicopters fired cannons at targets in the sea and in the air, the report said.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency
At night the choppers fired Hellfire and Sidewinder missiles at targets in the sea, it said.
Another drill codenamed “Thunder” featured live-fire exercises involving troops from the army’s 43rd Artillery Command and 58th Artillery Command operating the locally made Thunderbolt-2000 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS).
The Thunderbolt-2000 is a wheeled MLRS produced by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology.
The modular, truck-mounted, multi-barrel MLRS has quick-fire potential against amphibious assault landings.
“Mighty Eagle” and “Thunder” are major annual drills that test troops’ familiarity with precision weapons systems. They were held at the Jiupeng (九鵬) military base in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州) this year.
The agency report did not disclose when the drills were held but an army source said both took place from Tuesday last week to Wednesday.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS