The US has accelerated its delivery of military equipment purchased by Taiwan, including 16 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that arrived on Jan. 7, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said, greatly bolstering the nation’s capability to deter military aggression from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Apart from 84 long-range guided missiles, the defense package also includes 29 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), a light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s for the US Army, as well as 64 precision rockets, two training simulators and associated equipment, the ministry said in its latest written report to the legislature.
For the procurement of the defense package, the ministry had allocated a budget of NT$32.52 billion (US$1.08 billion) that was to be paid out from 2020 to 2027.
Photo: CNA
The ATACMS, which have a shooting range of 300km, are scheduled to be delivered in two phases: 64 in the first phase and 20 in the second phase.
The first batch of 64 missiles —16 in total — arrived on Jan. 7, the report said, with the remaining 48 missiles scheduled to arrive during the first quarter. That means all 64 should have arrived if the delivery was on schedule.
Eleven sets of HIMARS and two training simulators were received on Sept. 26 last year.
Photo courtesy of the US Army via AP
Meanwhile, 18 sets of HIMARS, 20 ATACMS and 864 precision rockets are scheduled to arrive between next year and 2027.
To ensure on-time delivery, the ministry has project liaison officers stationed in the US to audit the production progress at US military arsenals every two months. This is to ensure strict oversight, and that the second batch of equipment and ammunition is completed and delivered between next year and 2027, the ministry said.
The first batch of 38 M1 tanks and five missile launch vehicles from the first batch of the shore-based Harpoon missile system have also arrived in Taiwan, the ministry added.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS