The air force yesterday confirmed that it has requested the purchase of additional Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors from the US to counter a growing Chinese threat to national security, while the Control Yuan sought corrections to the paperwork.
The missiles are to be delivered in 2025 or 2026, and be deployed by the end of 2026, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the Legislative Yuan.
Sources in the air force declined to comment on budget allocations for the missiles, or the number to be purchased.
Photo: AP
The report said that the request was made in 2019.
The missiles’ “revolutionary two-pulse solid rocket motor provides increased performance in both altitude and range while employing the same proven hit-to-kill,” said the Web site of Lockheed-Martin, which manufactures the weapons system. “The two-pulse solid rocket motor and enhanced airframe gives the interceptor more maneuverability against faster and more sophisticated tactical ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.”
Taiwan received its first PAC-2 systems in 1997, with upgrades to PAC-3 being implemented since 2007.
Taiwan has deployed more than 400 PAC-3 missiles.
However, the Control Yuan passed a motion to issue the ministry with a corrective measure notice, citing “faulty procedures” regarding the paperwork for the purchase of the missiles.
The military issues regular recertification requests to the US to keep its equipment up to date and well-maintained, the Control Yuan said, but added that the 2019 request for yesterday’s proposed purchase had not been signed by the minister of national defense.
The legislature only learned of the purchase proposal after it was approved for committee hearings at the US Congress, a Control Yuan report said, adding that it has issued the corrective measure notice so that it could oversee changes to administrative procedures for arms purchases.
Separately, the ministry also confirmed that the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has fulfilled its quota for this year of 23 Tien Kung (Skybow) 3 missiles.
The ministry had commissioned the institute to provide Skybow missiles yearly from 2015 to 2024, in a NT$74.83 billion (US$2.62 billion at the current exchange rate) contract.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2019 asked the institute to expedite production of the Tien Kung and Hsiung Feng missiles series without sacrificing quality.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research senior analyst Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) told the Central News Agency that Skybow-3s have a higher intercept altitude than PAC-3s, although the PAC-3s have better precision.
The systems complement each other, Su said.
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA