Army holds combat readiness drill in Chiayi featuring tactical drone
ROC Central News Agency
01/06/2023 06:10 PM
Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) A tactical close-range rotary-wing drone developed by Taiwan's state-run weapons developer was featured for the first time in an active combat readiness drill held Friday at an Army base in Chiayi County.
The exercise conducted by the 234th Mechanized Infantry Brigade simulated a raid of the county's Chiayi Airport by invading forces, prompting a combined combat operation with infantry forces and armored battalions to repel an enemy takeover.
The drill also saw an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed and manufactured by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST) in action, gathering intel on the simulated attack by the enemy.
The 25-kilogram helicopter drone dubbed Capricorn has a combat radius of over 30 kilometers, can operate at an altitude of 1,500 meters, and stay airborne for about 60 minutes, Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told CNA.
According to Su, the drone can withstand up to Beaufort scale 6 winds and is equipped with dual optical lens (visible light/thermal imaging) to enhance its all-weather day/night reconnaissance capabilities.
The Capricorn UAV has three built-in navigation modules to prevent the possibility of damage or interference to a single navigation system during wartime from affecting the military, he added.
Drones play a critical role in asymmetric warfare, he said, and the NCSIST-developed Capricorn can greatly improve the military's joint combat effectiveness.
The Army has ordered 50 sets of these drones comprising 100 aircraft at a cost of NT$780 million (US$25.37 million), Su said, indicating that 28 were delivered in 2022 with the remainder to come by 2024.
The Capricorn UAV was first unveiled to the public by the NCSIST in November last year.
The military exercise on Friday was observed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who was accompanied by National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正).
In her address, Tsai said the simulated combat training that included drones would help strengthen the combat capabilities of Taiwan's military.
Military conscripts, she said, will have a chance to operate drones as part of weapons training in future.
After the drill, the president also carried out a tour of inspection at the Chiayi Reserve Command and the Air Force's 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, which is also based in the southern Taiwan county.
(By Huang Ya-shih and Ko Lin)
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