Military sorties up 20 percent: reportStaff writer, with CNAThe nation’s armed forces have deployed more than 4,000 sorties of military aircraft so far this year, a 20 percent increase from the same period last year, a Ministry of National Defense report said on Monday. Amid increasing military coercion by China, the armed forces have carried out 4,132 sorties by aircraft and 7,531 sorties by navy vessels in surveillance, combat readiness and fishery patrol missions and exercises this year, the report said. Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa is pictured in an undated photograph. The military has allocated a budget to improve its radar surveillance abilities in response to the increasing military threat posed by Chinese stealth aircraft and uncrewed aerial combat vehicles, the report said. Yen is scheduled to answer lawmakers’ questions at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei today.

Source: Taipei Times October 06, 2020 15:56 UTC