Taiwan might still be trying to obtain AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles to achieve the military’s invasion-deterrence goals, a Ministry of National Defense report showed.
The Progress Report on the Development of Asymmetric Warfare Capabilities (發展不對稱作戰之精實成效), submitted to the legislature and dated Oct. 8, states that the defense ministry seeks to procure several types of US-made missiles and bombs for Taiwan’s fleet of F-16V jets.
The weapons include AGM-84 Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response missiles, AGM-88 High-speed anti-Radiation Missiles, the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon and as yet unnamed “significant extended-range capable air-launched missiles.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The unnamed weapon is believed to be AGM-158A and AGM-158B missiles, which are stealth munitions with an effective range of 370km and greater than 926km respectively.
A ministry spokesperson refused to confirm the type of munition mentioned in the progress report.
The other three types of munitions referred to in the report were included in a NT$45.1 billion (US$1.4 billion) arms deal signed in January by the Defense Mission to the US and the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy in the nation.
The weapons are intended to enhance the ground and sea attack capabilities of F-16V jets operating from air force bases in Taitung, the defense ministry said in the report.
The military’s defense goals emphasize long-range precision strikes, integrated air defense, joint sea control, joint homeland defense, cyberwarfare, and joint command, control and surveillance capabilities, it said.
Long-range precision strike capability is the highest priority among the six capabilities being developed, as it enables the armed forces to target an enemy’s operational center of gravity and disrupt its deployment of sea and air units, the ministry said.
That capability is to be achieved through procurements and domestically developed weapon systems, including the Hsiung Sheng II-E and Wan Chien land-attack cruise missiles, and Chien Hsiang loitering munitions, it said.
The ministry is continuing to create highly mobile combat units with long-range precision strike capabilities to increase defense depth and form a multilayered invasion-deterrence strategy, it said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS