The Ministry of National Defense’s Defense Mission to the US and the American Institute in Taiwan have signed a NT$518.2 million (US$16 million) continuing service agreement for the Maritime Operations Support Center at the Pingtung Air Base.
The ministry said the contract for continued US technical support was inked on Monday last week, covering April 20 to Dec. 31, 2028.
The Maritime Operations Support Center is reportedly a naval command node that directs aerial assets belonging to the air force in naval operations.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The center houses a command and control system capable of integrating data transmitted from Lockeed P-3C Orion aircraft conducting surveillance patrols or combat, sources said, adding that maintenance of the system’s data links and analytical module require US technical support.
In January, 6th Composite Wing P-3C jets laden with torpedoes, depth charges and missiles, were flown at a media event in Pingtung.
The payload of the P-3Cs at the event suggested that the aircraft in service in Taiwan have taken on an anti-surface warfare role, defense expert Mei Fu-hsing (梅復興) said.
The P-3C’s traditional operational profile is surveillance patrol and anti-submarine warfare, Mei said.
AGM-84D harpoon missiles carried by the P-3Cs boast a maximum range of 220km due to the use of J10 fuel, but another platform would be needed to provide targeting and identification at such range, Mei added.
Unlike AGM-84Gs, the D-model missiles do not possess a coastal target suppression mode, he said, adding that the air force is known to operate both types.
In other news, the ministry yesterday said that 14 Chinese military aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait in the 24-hour period starting at 6am on Thursday, with an unspecified number flying as close as 41 nautical miles (75.8km) from Keelung.
The 14 aircraft were part of a larger fleet of 26 aircraft detected in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, while five Chinese vessels were also operating in waters around Taiwan, the ministry said.
The median-line crossings were among the largest-scale and closest to Taiwan in the past few weeks, ministry data showed.
The number had not been that high since 14 Chinese military aircraft crossed the median line in the 24 hours after 6am on April 20.
On Sunday, the ministry recorded an unspecified number of Chinese aircraft flying as close as 37 nautical miles from Keelung.
The aircraft included Sukhoi Su-30s, and KJ-500 airborne early warning and control vehicles and drones, and were accompanied by ships on a “joint combat readiness patrol,” the ministry said.
Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌), an associate research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research think tank, last week said that Chinese warplanes flying so close to Keelung served a “political and military purpose.”
Militarily, it was intended to continuously compress Taiwan’s airspace, Shu said.
Politically, the missions intend to keep the political heat on Taiwan’s new government before it takes office on May 20, Shu added.
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