Taiwan hopes to increase the number of Stinger missiles being obtained via US arms sales almost fivefold from 500 systems to 2,485, the Ministry of National Defense told lawmakers in a budget report.
The army would take over the Stinger program from the navy and change the order to add 1,985 missiles and 549 gripstock-control groups, as well as identification friend or foe (IFF) transponders, the ministry said in the document filed to the legislature last week.
Delivery of the missiles was scheduled to be completed in 2031, it said.
Photo: Lo Pei-te, Taipei Times
The budget allotted to the program would increase to NT$69 billion (US$2.16 billion) from NT$13.37 billion, it said.
The US has authorized the changes to the deal, the ministry added.
The ministry said it initially planned to buy 250 missiles, 108 gripstocks and 108 IFF transponders for the army, and 250 missiles, 70 gripstocks and 62 transponders for the navy. The navy later added 45 missiles, 15 gripstocks and 15 transponders to its order. Whether the revised deal includes the navy’s addition was unknown.
A defense official said on condition of anonymity that the ministry increased the order to deal with a rise in tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
The incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone by the Chinese military show that ground forces urgently need to boost their air defense capabilities against aircraft and drones, the official said.
The FIM-92 Stinger, a short-range surface-to-air missile with a range of 4,800m, is typically operated by a crew of two, but can be fired by a single operator.
The first batch of Stinger missiles — to be delivered next year — would go to army and marine units, military police guarding Taipei, navy ships and coast guard garrisons in the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) and Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), the ministry said.
The second batch to be delivered by 2031 would be held in reserve, it added.
Separately, the ministry said in the budget report that the air force next year is expected to spend a record NT$43.7 billion on maintenance and repairs to sustain its aircraft and facilities.
The sum would be a 16 percent increase compared with NT$36.8 billion this year and a 50 percent increase compared with last year, the report said.
Next year’s budget includes a NT$23.7 billion component to obtain spare parts for aircraft from fighter jets to cargo planes, as well as ground equipment, and NT$20 billion for maintenance and repair, it said.
Air force expenditure to maintain weapons systems and facilities have increased 224 percent in the past eight years.
Beijing’s military flights around Taiwan began when Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was elected president in 2016 and escalated after then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in 2022.
Tasked with monitoring and intercepting Chinese aircraft, the air force has been increasing spending on airframe maintenance and placed an order for 66 Lockheed-Martin F-16V jets and parts, which the US is expected to deliver in full by 2026.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘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,
The arrival of a cold front tomorrow could plunge temperatures into the mid-teens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Temperatures yesterday rose to 28°C to 30°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and 32°C to 33°C in central and southern Taiwan, CWA data showed. Similar but mostly cloudy weather is expected today, the CWA said. However, the arrival of a cold air mass tomorrow would cause a rapid drop in temperatures to 15°C cooler than the previous day’s highs. The cold front, which is expected to last through the weekend, would bring steady rainfall tomorrow, along with multiple waves of showers
RSS