MND budgets for renewal of toxic gas filters at 2 air bases
ROC Central News Agency
2007-09-23 16:45:09
Taipei, Sept. 23 (CNA) Toxic gas filtration systems at two well-guarded air bases in eastern Taiwan will be renewed as part of efforts to retain the military's counterattack capabilities in the event of a conflict across the Taiwan Strait, defense sources said Sunday.
According to the sources, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) will budget more than NT$463 million (US$14 million) in the coming four years for renewal of toxic gas filtration systems as well as airtight and ventilation facilities at Chiashan and Shihtzushan air bases, both of which boast carefully guarded aircraft hangars hidden in mountain caves.
Noting that the military came to understand during a cyber-war game simulating attacks from China last year that preserving airborne combat capabilities is far more important than securing air supremacy over the Taiwan Strait, the sources said most of the air force's fighter fleets in western Taiwan will move to the Chiashan air base in Hualien County and Shihtzushan air base in Taitung County should a cross-strait conflict break out.
Against this backdrop, sources said the military needs to further upgrade airtight sealant, ventilation, and toxic gas filtration systems at the two bases to better protect them from attacks by nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
The MND is planning to replace the existing U.S.-made filtration and ventilation facilities with new European-developed systems and install brand new toxic gas early warning systems at the two air bases. The new systems will not only detect a wide variety of posionous gases but can also help monitor the efficacy of the filtration systems, the sources said.
Moreover, the sources said new airtight purification facilities and centralized mainframe control systems will also be installed at the two air bases.
(By Sofia Wu)
enditem/jnc
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