Taiwan is to buy 400 Harpoon Block II missiles and 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems in one batch by 2028, not separately as originally intended, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday.
Chiu made the statement in response to media queries before attending a session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, adding that the decision was made in light of the rising threat from China, along with other considerations.
The Block II anti-ship missiles would supplement the capabilities of other missiles in service, he said.
Washington in October last year approved a possible sale to Taiwan of up to 100 Harpoon coastal defense systems and related equipment for about US$2.37 billion.
The package is to include 400 RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II surface-launched missiles, four RTM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II exercise missiles, 411 containers, 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense System launcher transporter units, 25 radar trucks and related logistics services and support, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said last year.
Meanwhile, the first indigenous Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) to emerge from production took to the skies at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung on Thursday.
Manufactured by the partially government owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC), the trainer with serial number 11003 made its debut test flight accompanied by one of the company’s two AJT prototypes.
A Ministry of National Defense report delivered to the Legislature in September said that the AIDC plans to complete the production of two AJTs by the end of this year.
Sixty-six AJTs are expected to be delivered to the military by 2026, the report said.
The AJT project was initiated in 2017 to replace the military’s decades-old AT-3 trainer aircraft and F-5E/F lead-in fighter trainers.
Two AJT prototypes have since been built, and public test flights of the two planes were conducted last year in June and December.
The development of the jet trainer, codenamed Yung Ying or “Brave Eagle,” was carried out as part of the country’s efforts to become more militarily self reliant.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
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