If you ever went behind Taiwan’s Southernmost Point in Eluanbi and turned your car or bike upwards to the north to the Manzhou, almost the first impression and the landmark was Longpan Park’s well-known radar domes. They are very well seen from the Longpan Park view platform from Fengchuisha, and many tourists even stop nearby to take photos of these radars, so they have become well-known landmarks in Elunbi.
Typhoon Koinu made landfall yesterday morning from Eluanbi, causing severe damage to the electrical facilities of the Hengchun Peninsula with its strong winds. At Eluanbi, the point of landfall, there are 2 well-known landmark ‘radar domes.’ One of them, a green, spherical shield for military use, could not withstand the strong winds and was broken. Fortunately, the military had previously removed the internal radar hardware.
The other, belonging to the Civil Aviation Authority and colored white, was not damaged due to reinforced steel bars and strengthened facilities.
Situated next to Kenting Long Pan Park’s Air Force radar station, originally there were 2 large ‘radar domes,’ which due to their prominent shape, are also a popular landmark for public photography. One of them, the green military-use dome, was directly damaged by the strong winds yesterday, leaving behind wreckage.
The sign pole is tilted here; we can imagine how strong the wind was this time!
The military stated that the 'radar dome' is made of flexible leather to protect the internal radar equipment from sunlight and rain.
The material is not steel. Antennas were removed before the typhoon warning, and while the typhoon wind speed caused damage to the dome, it does not affect the execution of combat readiness missions.
The local military fan page ‘Taiwan ADIZ’ expressed skepticism about the Air Force’s statement that the radar antenna had been withdrawn before the typhoon. The adjacent white Civil Aviation Authority’s aviation radar, which should have received the most wind during the typhoon, did not sustain wind damage.
The Civil Aviation Dome has no issues, while the military dome made from “flexible leather”, was blown away.
This was because, according to the recommendations of the French original factory, 160 additional reinforcing steel bars and other reinforcement plans were added, preventing damage.
This Air Force radar has long been rumored to have a reinforcement plan, but it has always been stillborn, reportedly due to being unable to obtain a budget. If the rumors are true, those who cut the budget are truly treating national defense security as a joke.
Postcard view of Longpan radar station before typhoon Koinu made an assault on leather dome of military radar
he fan page stated, however, if this can lead to acquiring new radar models as replacements, it might be a blessing in disguise. Regardless of whether the radar was truly damaged, the military still has corresponding measures to normally monitor the airspace. There are no dead zones in air defense, so the people can be at ease.
From my side, I will also add that the military, they had cut the grass frequently near the leather dome radar station, so we are genuinely safe: