The US is to send medium-range missiles including the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and Tomahawk to the Asia-Pacific next year to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan, US military news Web site Defense One reported.
The report cited comments US Army General Charles Flynn made during the annual Halifax International Security Forum on Nov. 19.
“We have tested them and we have a battery or two of them today,” Flynn was quoted as saying.
Photo: Screengrab from Defense Visual Information Distribution Service’s Web site
“In [20]24. We intend to deploy that system in your region. I’m not going to say where and when. But I will just say that we will deploy them,” he said.
The US was previously prevented from deploying nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and missile launchers with ranges of 500km to 5,500km under the terms of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
The treaty was signed by then-US president Ronald Reagan and then-Soviet Union Communist Party general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on Dec. 8, 1987. It was ratified on June 1, 1988.
Former US president Donald Trump announced the US’ withdrawal from the treaty on Oct. 20, 2018, citing non-compliance by Russia, due to Moscow’s development and deployment of an intermediate-range cruise missile known as the SSC-8 (Novator 9M729), as well as the need to counter a Chinese arms buildup in the Pacific.
In July, the US Marine Corps held a commissioning ceremony for the first land-based Tomahawk cruise missile battalion at the Camp Pendleton Training Center in California. The battalion is to be equipped with the Naval Strike Missile — a multi-mission cruise missile that can neutralize highly secure maritime and land targets, the US military has said.
Meanwhile, the SM-6, first commissioned in 2013, is the latest missile developed by US arms contractor Raytheon Co for its Standard Extended Range Active Missile family of missiles.
It has a top range of 240km, a flight speed of Mach 3.5 to Mach 5, and can be used as a surface-to-air missile, an anti-ballistic missile or an anti-ship missile. It has been selected by the US Army to be used as a land-based medium-range strike ballistic missile weapon system.
Flynn said with these missiles now in regular active service, the US Army has been preparing to commission the next-generation Precision Strike Missiles (PrSMs), which are under development and might be ready for service before the end of this year.
The PrSM is being developed by contractor Lockheed Martin Corp, and is to replace the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.
The new missile is expected to be capable of hitting targets 499km away, farther than the SM-6’s 370km, and it can be launched from the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System platform.
Flynn previously said that more regional militaries are seeking to conduct joint exercises with US forces due to China’s increasingly aggressive behavior against certain countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
China’s military is strengthening its capabilities at an accelerated rate, “so that trajectory that they’re on is a dangerous one for the region, and, candidly, it’s a dangerous moment for the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon on Nov. 17 said that the US Department of State has approved the potential sale of 400 Tomahawk missiles and related equipment to Japan in a deal valued at US$2.35 billion.
The package would include 400 Tomahawk missiles, 14 Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control Systems, software, support equipment, spares and technical support, the Pentagon said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS