The interior ministry says it will receive four US-made Black Hawk helicopters and use them for disaster relief missions.
Interior Minister Chen Wei-zen said during a legislative committee meeting on Wednesday that his ministry will receive the choppers by the end of the year. The ministry will send 32 pilots to the United States in July to receive training in flying the helicopters.
The US government announced the sale of 60 Black Hawk helicopters to Taiwan in early 2010. They will be used mainly for military transportation, while 15 of them will go to the Ministry of the Interior for use in disaster relief.