The US defense company Raytheon has been given a US$1.1 billion contract to supply a new Patriot Air and Missile Defense System to Taiwan.
Former US president George W. Bush approved the sale last year and it took 14 months to reach this stage.
The contract comes just as US President Barack Obama is expected to inform Congress that he has approved a new arms package for Taiwan. That announcement could come at any time.
Raytheon president Daniel Smith said on Wednesday night in Washington: “The Patriot system is a vital element to providing superior integrated air and missile defense capabilities for the protection of Taiwan. Raytheon has provided advanced technology, innovation and support for Taiwan for more than 40 years, and we are honored to continue that partnership today and in the future.”
The contract, issued by the US Army Aviation and Missile Command, is in two parts. The first, for US$965.6 million, covers the missile launchers or “ground-system hardware,” while the second, for US$134.4 million, is for spare parts. The actual missiles will be covered in yet another contract to be issued shortly.
Raytheon has annual sales of US$23 billion.
While details of the Patriot system remain highly classified, the version now being sold to Taiwan is known to be more advanced, more accurate and more reliable than the older system now in use.
It is designed to intercept and destroy incoming ballistic missiles. China has more than 1,000 such missiles aimed at Taiwan.
Beijing strongly objected to the sale when it was first announced and is expected to raise further objections now that it is definitely going ahead.
The new arms package to be announced soon is expected to include UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and more “advanced capability” Patriot missiles, known as PAC-3 missiles.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
RSS