TAIPEI, Taiwan (CBS Seattle/AP) — Taiwan is asking Apple Inc. to blur a map image of its new $1.4 billion early warning radar station that can detect aircraft and missiles coming from as far as western China.
Defense Ministry spokesman David Lo said Tuesday that Apple should follow its rival Google in using only low-resolution satellite pictures to show sensitive facilities. He acknowledged the military should also try to camouflage them.
According to AFP, a Liberty Times newspaper printed a satellite photo of the top-secret radar base by downloading it from an iPhone 5.
“[W]e’ll ask Apple to lower the resolution of satellite images of some confidential military establishments the way we’ve asked Google in the past,” Lo told AFP
The 10-story high radar installation built with U.S. technology is expected to go online later this year. It’s near the Hsinchu Air Base in northern Taiwan.
The satellite picture that can be viewed with iPhones is believed to have been taken a year ago.
Local media say the radar installation can monitor targets, determine their speeds and fire missiles to intercept them.
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