The air force continues to allocate about NT$10 million (US$313.38) for next year to keep its RF-5 recon aircraft fleet operational until it receives new intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, a military source said yesterday.
According to the air force’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2025, NT$10 million would be spent on logistics and technical support services to keep the RF-5s up and running.
The proposal is still pending approval by lawmakers.
Photo: Taipei Times file
The RF-5s were converted from some of the air force’s F-5E jets that have been in service for nearly 50 years.
Based in eastern Hualien Air Base, the plane’s main mission is to conduct reconnaissance missions with F-16Vs and surveil Chinese forces.
During natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, the RF-5s also conduct reconnaissance missions to help gather information on the scale of the destruction.
The air force had about 50 F-5s that have mostly served as trainer jets.
All of them were retired from service late last year and replaced by Taiwan’s indigenous Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT), also known as the Brave Eagle.
However, the RF-5 reconnaissance version is to remain operational until the military receives new ISR capabilities with the future inclusion of MS-110 pods, MQ-9B drones and domestic drones in the coming years, a military source said.
Washington approved the sale of six MS-110s in October 2020, but the military has yet to receive them.
The delivery is expected to be completed next year.
The military is also scheduled to receive the first two MQ-9B “SkyGuardian” drones it purchased from the US in 2026, and the other two in 2027.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS