Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Taiwan deploys missiles after Chinese jets ‘enter its air zone’

Friday, February 19, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats Missile Defense

Comments: 0

Taiwan’s air force has activated its missile system after eight Chinese fighter jets flew into the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone, in an uptick in tensions as Taipei announced a new defence minister and intelligence chief.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said on Friday four Chinese J-16s and four JH-7s as well as an electronic warfare aircraft flew near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the top part of the South China Sea, into the southwestern area of its air defence identification zone.

The ministry said Taiwan’s air force was scrambled, with “radio warnings issued and air defence missile systems deployed to monitor the activity”.

In recent months China has increased its military activity around the democratic island it claims as Chinese territory. Beijing says it is responding to what it calls “collusion” between Taipei and Washington, Taiwan’s most important international backer and weapons supplier.

Chinese aircraft fly in the southwestern corner of the zone on an almost daily basis, though the last such large-scale incursion was on January 24 when 12 Chinese fighter jets were involved.

There was no immediate comment from China.

New minister appointed

Shortly before the ministry’s announcement, Taiwan announced a reshuffle of senior security officials – including a new, US-trained defence minister – to help bolster military modernisation and intelligence efforts.

President Tsai Ing-wen has promised to defend the island and has made modernising its armed forces a priority, including developing a fleet of new submarines, buying new F-16 fighters from the United States and upgrading its warships.

Presidential Office said Spokesman Xavier Chang told reporters that National Security Bureau Director-General Chiu Kuo-cheng, who graduated from the US Army War College in 1999, would replace Yen De-fa as defence minister.

Chang said the president expected Chiu to complete the next stage of military reforms, including planning for “asymmetric warfare”, focusing on high-tech, mobile weapons designed to make any Chinese attack as difficult as possible.

Chiu’s old job as intelligence chief will be taken by Taiwan’s top China policymaker, Chen Ming-tong, now head of the Mainland Affairs Council.

Chang said Chen was ideally placed for this due to his deep knowledge of China.

“The most important task of the National Security Bureau is to understand and have a grasp on China,” Chang said, adding the newly-appointed officials will formally take up their posts next week.

Photo:  A Su-30 fighter flies with an H-6K bomber in a drill near the East China Sea [File: Shao Jing/Xinhua... China has recently increased its military activity around islands controlled by Taiwan [File: Reuters]

Link: Taiwan deploys missiles after Chinese jets ‘enter its air zone’ (msn.com)

Comments RSS feed for comments on this page

There are no comments yet. Be the first to add a comment by using the form below.

Search