The Pentagon said on Wednesday it had notified the US Congress of the possible sale of 60 Harpoon Block II anti-ship cruise missiles to Taiwan.
The proposed deal was valued at an estimated US$125 million, the Defense Security and Cooperation Agency said.
"The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and economic security in the region," the agency said in a press statement.
It said the proposed sale would improve Taiwan's security and help maintain political stability, military balance and economic security in the region.
The sale would include 60 ABM-84L missiles, 30 lugs for air-launched missiles and 50 kits to upgrade the AGM-84G version of the missile to the AGM-84L.
The Harpoon can be launched from fighter aircraft, surface ships or submarines to attack targets on land as well as at sea.
Boeing, which manufactures the missiles, says its GPS-aided navigational system enables the missiles to distinguish ships from nearby islands or land masses, or to strike them in congested sea lanes.
"The 500-pound blast warhead delivers lethal firepower against a wide variety of land-based targets, including coastal defense sites, surface-to-air missile sites, exposed aircraft, port industrial facilities, ships in port," a Boeing fact sheet said.
The Pentagon statement noted that Taiwan has bought both air and surface-launched Harpoon missiles before.
It said the sale was in keeping with the Taiwan Relations Act, which commits the US to providing Taiwan with "arms of a defensive character."
A Taiwanese official stationed in Washington said on Wednesday that continued sales of US Harpoon missiles will help beef up Taiwan's deterrence force.
Taiwan also purchased F-16 jet fighters from the US in the 1990s, the official said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
RSS