The Ministry of National Defense has received a letter of acceptance (LOA) from the US for the sale of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) that expires on March 26, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday.
Koo confirmed receipt of the LOA while speaking with reporters at the legislature.
The US announced the sale of 82 HIMARS to Taiwan on Dec. 17 last year at an estimated cost of US$4.05 billion as part of a historic US$11.1 billion arms package.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
An LOA is a binding document confirming that a foreign government agrees to buy military equipment under a regulated government program, and gives the US government the authority to contract US weapons firms to manufacture and acquire the systems.
The offer expires if the buyer does not sign the LOA by the deadline, and the deal would have to be reviewed again.
In addition to the HIMARS letter, Taiwan has received LOAs for M109A7 self-propelled howitzers (US$4.03 billion), Javelin anti-armor missiles (US$375 million) and TOW missiles (US$353 million).
The deadline for signing those LOAs is Sunday, the ministry said.
The ministry said it is still awaiting the acceptance letter for Altius-700M and Altius-600 drones.
Koo expressed the hope that the legislature would swiftly authorize the ministry to sign the LOAs for all five systems, particularly the HIMARS, saying that the acquisition could be “significantly impacted” if the agreement is not signed in time.
The government and opposition-controlled legislature have been at loggerheads over the financing of weapons procurements the government considers necessary for Taiwan’s defense.
The Executive Yuan has proposed a special budget of NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.27 billion) to cover the acquisition of domestic and foreign-made weapons systems over the next eight years, but opposition parties have only proposed a budget of NT$380 billion to NT$400 billion to fund purchases for weapons in the US$11.1 billion arms package.
Finding agreement on the LOAs with upcoming deadlines could happen before the funding bills are reconciled.
A motion submitted by the opposition Taiwan People’s Party authorizing the ministry to sign the first three LOAs on Friday advanced to a second reading, but cross-caucus negotiations would have to be held for the motion to advance further.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
RSS