Four US representatives on Wednesday sent a letter to the US House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations calling for US$165 million to expedite the delivery of Harpoon missiles to Taiwan.
“Harpoons are the deterrent we urgently need to prevent China from invading or blockading Taiwan,” US Representative Mark Ashford wrote in the letter cosigned by fellow Republican representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer, Rob Wittman and Donald Davis.
In 2020, the US approved the sale of 100 shore-mounted Harpoon missile systems to Taiwan. The package included 400 RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II missiles, four RTM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II exercise missiles, 100 Harpoon launcher transport units, 25 radar trucks and related equipment.
Photo: AP
The US should use the proposed funding to boost the defense industry’s capabilities to manufacture Harpoon missiles toward hastening their delivery, Ashford said.
The lawmakers said that Harpoon missiles should be delivered within the Davidson window, a term referring to the 2021 to 2027 period in which former US Indo-Pacific Command commander Admiral Phil Davidson believed a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be most likely.
The letter mentioned Boeing’s Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM-ER), saying that the Harpoon and SLAM-ER programs are in the final stages of upgrades.
One hundred mobile launcher systems and 400 missiles are being prepared for delivery to Taiwan in the third quarter of the next year, the letter said.
Expanding the US’ capability to manufacture cruise missiles at scale would better prepare Washington to meet demands arising from unanticipated crises around the world, it said.
Separately, US lawmakers from across the political divide have joined forces to speed up arms deliveries to Taiwan by licensing the nation to build US-designed systems, Politico said in a report published on Wednesday.
The lawmakers are poised to introduce a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 2025 allowing the transfer of US technology to Taiwan toward giving the latter the capability to produce some types of US arms, Politico reported.
The move signaled the “deep frustration” of US lawmakers as they watched Beijing build up its forces, it said, adding that transfers of US defensive articles to Taiwan have suffered setbacks amid supply-chain issues, workforce shortages and competing strategic priorities.
“We need to do this for speed and putting some pressure on huge defense contractors who refuse to meet production goals does not hurt,” US Representative Seth Moulton was quoted as saying in a statement.
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said coproduction arrangements of military hardware with key allies and partners might help solve the bottlenecks that plagued the US defense sector, it reported.
If successful, the effort could ease the jammed pipeline of military aircraft, tanks, uncrewed aerial vehicles and precision munitions slated for Taiwan, in addition to boosting industrial ties between Taipei and Washington, it said.
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