Raytheon Co, the world’s largest missile maker, said Taiwan was close to signing a contract for three Patriot missile firing batteries and related equipment that the US agreed to sell to the country in January.
The order could be finalized as early as this year, after the legislature approves the accord, Sanjay Kapoor, vice president of Patriot programs, said in an interview at the Farnborough Air Show near London.
The offer, which is in addition to the US$1.1 billion order Raytheon announced in December, has gone to Taiwan and the company is awaiting the client’s approval, he said. The batteries made by Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon include radar and command-and-control equipment and are used to fire two different versions of Patriot anti-missile interceptors made both by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp. Lockheed makes the PAC-3 and Raytheon makes a version called the Guidance Enhanced Missile.
US President Barack Obama’s administration notified US Congress in January of its intention to sell Taiwan US$2.81 billion worth of Patriot anti-missile systems, including 114 PAC-3 missiles and the firing units made by Raytheon.
The US provides defensive armaments to Taiwan under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
In a report last week, the Ministry of National Defense said that China’s missile arsenal targeting Taiwan could reach 1,960 by the end of this year. Current estimates put the number of short-range DF-11 and DF-15 ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan at between 1,300 and 1,500. The high number referred to in the ministry report likely includes DF-21 medium-range ballistic missiles as well as cruise missiles.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said in Washington on Tuesday that the “ambiguous message” he had received from the US was that if the US could not sell F-16C/D fighter aircraft to Taiwan for the moment, it would consider upgrading the capability of its older F-16A/Bs.
Lin, who is heading a delegation of Taiwanese lawmakers on a visit to the US capital, said Washington had yet to decide on Taiwan’s request to purchase either F-16C/D aircraft or diesel-electric submarines.
Lin said the Taiwanese government had never abandoned its desire to acquire diesel-electric submarines and had, in fact, earmarked funds to acquire them.
Because of the difficulties involved in the design and production of the submarines, however, Taiwan can decide whether to purchase them only after conducting a feasibility study and evaluating quotations, he said.
Since arriving in Washington on Sunday, the delegation has met US Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Shear at the US Department of State, Derek Mitchell, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense in charge of Asian and Pacific security affairs, and several senators and congressmen.
During the meetings, the US officials have expressed support for Taiwan’s efforts to seek international recognition, particularly its bid to join the International Civil Aviation Organization, Lin said.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
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