Taiwan and the US have sealed a NT$3.8 billion (US$130.5 million) deal for 460 TOW-2B Aero radio frequency (RF)-controlled anti-tank missiles, which are to be delivered to Taiwan annually starting this year, with the final batch to be received by June 2024, a Ministry of National Defense source said yesterday.
The TOW-2B missiles are superior to the TOW-2A missiles the military currently uses in that they are wirelessly controlled rather than wire-guided, the source said.
The RF capability allows the missiles to more easily damage or paralyze enemy tanks by attacking them at more vulnerable points, the source said.
Photo: Lo Tien-bin, Taipei Times
After delivery of the missiles, the army’s anti-tank companies — on both Taiwan proper and its outlying islands — would have priority in deploying the missiles, the source said.
The TOW-2B’s maximum range of 4.5km allows it to be used not only in ground battles, but also to prevent enemy landings by engaging hovercraft and amphibious landing vehicles, the source said.
The sale is part of an arms package announced by the US in December 2015, originally for 769 TOW-2B RF missiles along with training equipment and support systems for a total of US$268 million, the source said.
After assessing the military’s equipment, the ministry elected to purchase 460 missiles due to a healthy number of TOW-2A missiles still in use, the source said.
The move was also a means to incentivize the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) to make breakthroughs in research and development and produce anti-tank weaponry on a par with the TOW-2B, the source said.
The deal was officially signed by the Taiwanese defense attache and the American Institute in Taiwan, and was promulgated by the ministry on Thursday.
The CSIST is building missiles based on the Kestrel anti-armor rocket and has achieved multiple breakthroughs on key technologies, adding it is possible that the final product could produce an anti-tank missile at the level of the portable F6M-1HB Javelin or the TOW-2B.
The CSIST has also developed a Kestrel variant that can reach targets more than 1,200m away, a drastic improvement over the current Kestrel, which only has a range of 400m, the source said.
The CSIST’s Kestrel variant would be able to penetrate up to 400mm of rolled homogenous armor, which is an improvement on the original Kestrel’s penetration rate of 300mm, the source added.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military