President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday performed an inspection of a Marine Corps base in Taoyuan, where she shouldered a Taiwan-made rocket launcher, saying it was “light and handy.”
During Tsai’s inspection tour of the 66th Marine Brigade base, she was briefed on some of the weapons systems used by the Marine Corps, and showed particular interest in the Kestrel anti-tank rocket launcher, an individual shoulder-launched weapon system developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the military’s top research unit.
Tsai picked up an unloaded Kestrel and balanced it on her shoulder, saying it was “relatively light and handy.”
Photo: the Presidential Office via AFP
Made of fiber-reinforced plastic, the Kestrel rocket launcher is 1.1m long and weighs 5kg. With a range of 400m, it has an optical sight and a mount for a night-vision scope.
The military said that 292 Kestrel rocket launchers have been deployed on the the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) and Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea, in response to China’s growing presence in the disputed area.
Taoyuan marine base soldiers yesterday also showed Tsai the FGM-148 Javelin, a US-made portable anti-tank missile, a weapon that has proved effective in Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion.
After the marine base tour, Tsai visited two other military units in Taoyuan, inspecting the army’s Chemical Biological Center and the National Defense Medical Center’s Institute of Preventive Medicine, where the president commended the unit for its success in developing COVID-19 test kits and for working closely with the government to combat the disease.
Tsai carried out the inspection tour one day ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival to boost the morale of military personnel who remain on duty during the public holiday.
Separately, Taiwan was not invited to this year’s RIMPAC exercises, despite the US National Defense Authorization Act saying that an invitation could bolster US security strategy.
The joint naval drills are scheduled from June 29 to Aug. 4 in and around Hawaii and southern California, the US Third Fleet said in a statement on Monday.
The exercises are to involve 26 countries, 38 surface ships, 170 aircraft, four submarines and 25,000 personnel, including the ground forces of nine nations, it said.
The countries the US invited to take part are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga and the UK.
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