The backlog of US arms sales to Taiwan is worth US$19.17 billion, with F-16s and Abrams tanks making up more than 50 percent of the value, the Cato Institute said in a study published on Monday.
The study drew data from the US Department of Defense’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Washington has not released detailed information on delayed arms shipments.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The Cato Institute broke down the arms backlog into “traditional,” “asymmetric” and “munition” weapons categories and capabilities, with traditional being 63.2 percent of the total, asymmetric comprising 22 percent and munitions 14.8 percent, the study said.
The undelivered traditional capabilities, totaling US$12.113 billion, mainly consisted of US$8 billion of F-16C/D Block 70 jets and US$2 billion of M1A2T Abrams tanks, it said.
The undelivered traditional capabilities also included M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers comprising 3.9 percent of the total backlog, while infrared search and track systems for F-16s comprised 2.6 percent and MK 15 Phalanx close-in weapon systems comprised 2.2 percent, it said.
The traditional capabilities delayed also included MS-110 jet reconnaissance pods (1.9 percent) and AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare systems for Keelung-class destroyers (0.4 percent), the study said.
However, the backlogged traditional systems would have imposed a high cost on Taiwan’s limited defense resources and would be of “minimal utility” in fighting the Chinese the People’s Liberation Army, it said.
The US should prioritize the delivery of asymmetric capabilities and ammunition “to keep Taipei from running out of reloads quickly in a conflict,” the study said.
The asymmetric capabilities, worth US$4.221 billion, included Harpoon coastal defense systems totaling US$2.37 billion, or 12.4 percent of the backlog, it said.
The undelivered asymmetric capabilities also included MQ-9B uncrewed aerial vehicles comprising 3.1 percent of the backlog and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems comprising 2.3 percent, it said.
Air-launched Harpoon missiles comprised 1.9 percent of the backlog, Field Information Communication Systems comprised 1.5 percent and Volcano anti-tank mining systems comprised 0.9 percent, it added.
Munitions not yet delivered totaled US$2.835 billion, including AGM-84H SLAM-ER missiles worth US$1.008 billion, or 5.3 percent of the backlog, as well as F-16 munitions comprising 3.2 percent, it said.
In addition, MK 48 heavyweight torpedoes, 30mm rounds, AGM-154C Joint Standoff Weapons, lightweight torpedoes and conversion kits, and AIM-9X Block II missiles accounted for 2.2 percent, 2.2 percent, 1.7 percent, 1 percent, 0.9 percent and 0.4 percent of the backlog respectively, the study said.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
RSS