The US Department of State has approved a US$300 million sale of equipment to help maintain Taiwan’s tactical information systems, the Pentagon said on Friday, the latest US assistance for the country’s defenses.
US law requires it to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the sale was for follow-on life cycle support to maintain Taiwan’s command, control, communications and computer (C4) capabilities.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
The support would improve Taiwan’s capability to “meet current and future threats by enhancing operational readiness” and maintain existing C4 capabilities that provide a secure flow of tactical information, it added.
In Taipei, the Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that the sale would help maintain the effectiveness of its joint combat command and control systems so it can improve battlefield awareness.
“The Chinese communists’ frequent military operations around Taiwan presents a serious threat to us,” the ministry said, adding that it expected the sale to “take effect” in one month.
It also expressed its thanks to Washington for the sale.
The US Congress is to be notified and the sale is likely to go ahead.
The Presidential Office said that the deal, the 12th arms sale by US President Joe Biden’s administration to Taipei, demonstrates the great importance the US government attaches to Taiwan’s defensive needs.
A national security source yesterday said that the C4 system’s joint warfare capabilities are inadequate.
The military procured its integrated C4 management system from US defense contractor Lockheed Martin under the Syun An (迅安, “Swift Security”) program, part of the Po Sheng (博勝, “Broad Victory”) program, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Put in effect under then-president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration, the management system was designed to generate a combined operational picture for the entire military, but many problems have been identified, the official said.
Notably, the Syun An system was unable to properly integrate data from the long-range early-warning radar system in the northern mountains and its downgraded Link 16 tactical data network was incompatible with non-US equipment, such as French-made La Fayette-class frigates and Mirage 2000 fighters, as well as Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Fighters, they said.
Although a patch for the system interface compatibility issues was developed, the US did not sell Taiwan enough Link 16 systems to fully equip all of its ships, aircraft, and air defense and radar systems, they said.
The Syun An system has been in use for more than a decade and is showing signs of obsolescence, lacking modern features and ease of use, the official said.
In May, the Ministry of National Defense told lawmakers that the US would help it obtain NATO’s standard Link 22 technology to boost the military’s over-the-horizon networking and counter-electronic warfare capabilities.
Most importantly, the technology would enable true interoperability by generating an identical operational picture for the forces of Taiwan, the US and its allies, according to former US Department of Defense senior director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia Tony Hu (胡振東).
In related news, the ministry yesterday morning said that in the previous 24-hour period it had detected nine Chinese military aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
That line used to serve as an unofficial barrier between the two countries, but China’s air force now regularly sends its aircraft across it, although they have not flown into Taiwan’s territorial airspace.
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS