A military expert on Thursday predicted that Taiwan’s request to buy 10 Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters would win quick approval in Washington.
“The Sikorsky MH-60R is perhaps the world’s best anti-submarine and naval support helicopter in the 8-tonne class and provides a capability that Taiwan clearly requires,” International Assessment and Strategy Center senior fellow Richard Fisher said.
Earlier this week, navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Hsiao Wei-ming (蕭維民) revealed that Taipei was planning to purchase the helicopters.
“It is not yet known when they will be formally ordered and delivered, but this is an obvious defensive weapon system that should gain rapid sales approval from the US State Department,” Fisher said.
He said that with the MH-60R the navy could better deter two key threats: China’s growing fleet of about 50 stealthy attack submarines and its large fleet of Type 022 stealthy missile-armed fast attack craft.
“Both of these threats can be used by China to help impose a shipping blockade on Taiwan,” Fisher said.
He said that with the Seahawks, the navy had a better chance of finding Chinese submarines and using “Hellfire” missiles to defend against Type 022 fast attack ships.
The helicopters are estimated to cost between US$700 million and US$800 million.
US-Taiwan Business Council President Rupert Hammond-Chambers on Thursday declined to comment on the possible helicopter deal, but he told Defense News in July that the MH-60R was “essential” to the nation’s maritime security.
“The main issue is ensuring the budget is suitable for a program of this cost as Taiwan’s ruling party continues to under-invest in the defense budget,” Hammond-Chambers said at that time.
China is almost certain to strongly object to the probable Seahawk purchase, but Washington-based industry sources said that was unlikely to have a significant impact.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS