The US Department of State has approved the potential sale of ammunition and logistics support to Taiwan in two separate deals with a combined value of up to US$440 million, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
Taiwan has asked to purchase 30mm ammunition, including high-explosive incendiary tracer rounds, multipurpose rounds and training rounds, for about US$332.2 million, the Pentagon said.
The principal contractors would be Alliant Techsystems Operations and General Dynamics, it said.
Photo: REUTERS
Taiwan has asked to buy a Blanket Order Cooperative Logistics Supply Support Arrangement at an estimated cost of US$108 million, the Pentagon said.
The logistics arrangement would support the purchase of spare and repair parts for wheeled vehicles, weapons and other equipment, it said.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Thursday notified the US Congress of the possible sales.
In Taipei, the Presidential Office thanked the US for honoring its commitments to Taiwan’s security by providing the nation with defensive weapons in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Olivia Lin (林聿禪) said yesterday.
The arms sales “fully demonstrated that the US government attaches great importance to Taiwan’s national defense needs,” she said.
Taiwan would continue to demonstrate its determination to defend itself and strengthen its defense capabilities to safeguard the security and interests of the nation, she said.
Taiwan would continue to cooperate with like-minded countries to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, she added.
The Ministry of National Defense said that the sales would boost the nation’s resilience against China’s “expanding threats of military and gray zone tactics,” which it said has posed “severe threats” to Taiwan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement to thank the US for the arms sales.
“Taiwan has an unwavering determination to defend itself in the face of China’s continued military expansion and provocative actions,” the ministry said.
Taiwan would continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities while deepening its close security partnership with the US to jointly safeguard the rules-based international order, and ensure regional peace, stability and prosperity, it said.
Meanwhile, the defense ministry said that 11 Chinese military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning.
At about 8am, 24 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft were spotted near Taiwan, and 11 of them crossed the unofficial border between Taiwan and China, the ministry said in a statement.
The 24 PLA aircraft included J-11, J-10 and J-16 jets, as well as Sukhoi Su-30s and H-6 bombers, it said.
The ministry said it scrambled planes to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issued radio warnings, mobilized combat air and naval patrols, and deployed defensive missile systems.
Five Chinese naval vessels were also detected near Taiwan yesterday, it said, without giving any details of the location or movement of the ships.
Additional reporting by Liu Tzu-hsuan
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS