The military has allocated funds to buy more M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers from the US after canceling its original plan to purchase M109A6 “Paladin” self-propelled howitzers, a proposed defense budget showed yesterday.
The proposal, which was sent to the legislature for review, indicates that the army is planning to buy 29 HIMARS, a truck-mounted, multiple-launch system, 18 more than originally planned.
It is also aiming to buy 84 ATACMS, a long-range guided missile system, up from 64 that it originally wanted, as well as 864 precision rockets that can be used by HIMARS, which has a strike distance of 300km, the proposal showed.
Photo: AFP
The total budget is set at NT$32.5 billion (US$1.07 billion), with the first batch of 11 HIMARS expected to be delivered in 2024 if the order is made, the proposal showed.
The plan is to provide high-precision, high-mobility, long-distance firepower to Taiwan’s frontline islands to eliminate invading enemy forces, as it would be difficult to quickly reinforce such locations, the army said.
The decision to buy more HIMARS was made after the army decided not to buy 40 Paladins, with the Ministry of National Defense in May saying that the US informed it that the self-propelled howitzers would not be delivered on time due to inadequate production capacity.
Instead, Washington proposed other long-range, precision-strike weapon systems such as HIMARS, the ministry said in a news release at the time.
The government last week announced its general budget plan for fiscal 2023, which showed an increase in proposed spending on national defense next year of nearly 14 percent, or more than NT$70 billion, from this year.
The money would fund the development of domestically built warships and warplanes, improve equipment and weaponry for troops, boost the nation’s reserve forces and develop asymmetrical warfare tactics, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan and the US have signed a NT$21.7 billion deal for four MQ-9B SeaGuardian aerial drones with ground control stations and other support systems, with the units scheduled for delivery in 2025.
The deal inked by the air force and the American Institute in Taiwan is implemented through December 2029, when installation of the support systems is to be completed, the ministry said in a contract notice yesterday.
The contract’s implementation timetable is a year longer than previously negotiated.
The price tag includes NT$16.88 billion for the drones themselves, with the remainder for control stations, technical training and operational expenses related to the procurement, it said.
The implementation of the contract would take place partially or entirely in Hualien County, it said.
A defense official said that the drones would boost the military due to their long loiter time, all-weather observation and surveillance sensors, and their ability to launch airstrikes.
The drones can directly support combat troops, or disrupt enemy operations, the official said.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the