The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday.
The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year.
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan.
Photo: Screen grab from the Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace Web site
The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to Taiwan during the administration of US President Joe Biden.
The system is designed for the ground-launched version of the US-made AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, as well as Europe’s jointly developed IRIS-T SLS short-range missiles.
NASAMS are compatible with the AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar system and use Link-16 tactical data link technology.
The AMRAAM-ER, the extended-range variant of the AIM-120, is capable of intercepting aircraft and supersonic cruise missiles. It has a range of about 50km.
NASAMS would give medium-altitude capability to supplement Taiwan’s other air defense systems, including the land-based variant of the Tien Chien II (Sky Sword II) and Tien Kung (Sky Bow) families of missiles, as well as the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3).
The Tien Chien II is a mobile air defense system designed to protect ground forces with a range of 15km, while the Tien Kung family have a maximum interception altitude of 45km. The PAC-3 has a maximum interception altitude of 24km.
The ministry also announced two other weapons procurements contracts — one for L-band electronic radar arrays and another for non-L-band electronic radar arrays, as well as four logistics and sustainment contracts for several systems.
The radar contracts are likely to be for AN/TPS-77 and AN/TPS-78 forward warning systems.
The NASAMS and radar array contracts have a listed allocation of NT$24.3 billion (US$737.17 million) and are to be implemented by February 2034 and March 2030 respectively.
The air force’s 793rd Air Defense Brigade would receive spare parts for air defense missiles and support for PAC-3 systems in two contracts allocated a combined NT$2.33 billion.
The former contract is to be implemented by 2028 and the latter by 2029.
The Tainan-based 1st Tactical Fighter Wing and the Pingtung-based 6th Tactical Fighter Wing would receive a NT$6.4 billion budget to ship components to the US for maintenance and support. The program is to be implemented through December 2030.
The ministry awarded Montreal-based CAE Inc a NT$79 million contract for the maintenance and repair of flight simulators for Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and Lockheed P-3 Orion antisubmarine warfare aircraft.
The contract would be implemented through 2029.
Defense expert Mei Fu-hsing (梅復興) said that the NASAMS proved to be a highly effective weapon in Ukraine’s air defense strategy amid its war with Russia, while Washington has long recommended Taiwan to acquire it as a key asymmetric warfare capability.
The Norwegian air defense weapons are one of the few truly asymmetric systems Taiwan has bought in the past few years, Mei said.
Additional reporting by Chen Chih-chen
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 —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
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
RSS