World News by Wild Rose

Taiwan’s defence ministry plans to allow military pilots to serve until the age of 58 as it grapples with the prospect of “having fighter jets but no pilots”. The proposed retention scheme comes as the island’s air force prepares to form operational squadrons around 66 new F-16V Block 70 fighters ordered from the United States, adding pressure to an already stretched pool of experienced pilots. Under the plan, pilots could serve until 58 – up from about 48 for lieutenant colonels and 52 for...

President Lai Ching-te emphasises peace and freedom, vows not to tolerate aggression in Taiwan Strait.

Japan and the United States will rehearse moving anti-ship missiles, air defences and communications networks onto islands near Taiwan this month in an expanded military exercise that analysts say could complicate Beijing’s planning for a Taiwan or East China Sea conflict. Keen Sword 27, which runs from October 19 to 29, will involve about 45,000 Japanese personnel, 6,100 vehicles, 40 ships and 260 aircraft, up from about 33,000 personnel, 30 ships and 250 aircraft in 2024. About 12,000 US...

The first two of 66 Lockheed Martin F-16V Block 70 fighters landed in Taitung on October 2, 2026, after years of production delays. The post Taiwan’s First F-16V Block 70 Jets Arrive, What Changes appeared first on The Rio Times.

The United States has accused mainland China of hiring an American citizen of Chinese origin to surveil the family of Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te, days after President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington. The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Sunday arrested 34-year-old Zhang Wanying at Los Angeles International Airport, alleging that she attempted to flee the country and charged her with acting as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government. The FBI accused her of surveilling...

Built to hunt tanks and support ground troops, the People’s Liberation Army’s main attack helicopter is increasingly being prepared for operations at sea. Crews of the Z-10 are training to fly from ships – a shift that could give Beijing extra firepower in an amphibious assault on Taiwan. Manufactured by AVIC subsidiary the Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation, the Z-10 entered service with the PLA Army in late 2010. It began documented shipboard trials in 2014, when Chinese navy imagery...

Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) used water cannons to expel a mainland Chinese fishing vessel near Dongsha Island, authorities said on Friday. The incident occurred on October 1, 27 nautical miles east of the Taiwanese-controlled Dongsha Island, also called Pratas Island, in the South China Sea, the agency revealed. The CGA’s patrol vessel Yunlin directed its water cannon towards the fishing boat Jin Sha’s wheelhouse for about 90 seconds after initially spraying water into the air for...

The US Navy has set up a dedicated command to turn its growing array of aerial, surface and underwater drones into an integrated fighting force – a capability US commanders have linked to disrupting a PLA attack on Taiwan. The Robotic and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Centre, formally established on September 24 in Virginia, will develop doctrine and tactics for unmanned systems, train sailors to use them, and test whether they can keep operating under realistic conditions. In a...

Taiwan’s coastguard fired a supersonic anti-ship missile during a military exercise last week, an unusual move by a civilian law enforcement agency that analysts say could be aimed at complicating potential war plans. The drill matters not only because it highlights the growing integration between the agency and Taiwan’s navy, experts argue, but also because missile-armed coastguard vessels would add another threat the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would have to account for in a conflict. On...

Taiwan’s military has taken delivery of 291 one-way attack drones from US maker Anduril Industries, only to find they came without chargers and require American assistance to recharge them. The revelation involving the Altius-600M loitering munitions has prompted Taiwan’s opposition lawmakers to question the military’s procurement and logistical planning, days before the drones join other weapons systems in a three-day live-fire exercise. The controversy comes at a sensitive time in...