Taiwan has signed a contract with the US to purchase airborne reconnaissance systems to be deployed in Hualien, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
The contract was signed between Taiwan’s Defense Mission in the US and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the ministry said in a statement.
However, it did not give any details of the arms, saying only that they are the “latest generation airborne reconnaissance pods.”
The NT$9.63 billion (US$343.87 million) contract with the US took effect on July 8 and the systems would be deployed in Hualien County by March 15, 2029, the ministry said.
A military source with knowledge of the deal said that the deal comprises six MS-110 Recce Pods for F-16 jets that the US in October last year agreed to supply to Taiwan.
The deal is also likely to include 11 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and 135 Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response systems, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said when it announced the then-potential arms sale in October last year.
Meanwhile, Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a senior analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the MS-110 pods are more advanced than the widely deployed DB-110 dual-band airborne reconnaissance systems for long-range imagery.
The new system allows rapid exploitation of multispectral imagery via high-speed, near-real-time data links, and can greatly increase the military’s capabilities in terms of intelligence gathering, Su said.
The sensors are compatible with advanced fighters such as F-16s, F-15s, F/A-18s and the French Rafale multirole combat jet, as well as uncrewed aerial vehicles such as the MQ-9, he said.
In other news, the navy on Tuesday took delivery of its second Tuo Chiang-class stealth multi-mission corvette, the Ta Chiang (PGG-619), as part of an ongoing effort to beef up the capability of Taiwan’s military to deter external threats.
Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) told a ceremony that the name was chosen by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and inspired by the Tawa River, which runs through the ancestral hunting grounds of the Paiwan people in Taitung County, the Military News Agency reported.
The president hopes that all of the men and women in uniform on the Ta Chiang emulate the bravery of the Paiwan people, the report quoted Chiu as saying.
By naming naval vessels after places in Taiwan, the president wishes to remind everyone in Taiwan of their duty to protect the country’s maritime domain, Chiu said.
The Ta Chiang is an upgraded version of its prototype, the Tuo Chiang, with improved stability and stealth capabilities, the Navy Command said, adding that it is Taiwan’s first small warship that has area air defense capabilities, making it effective in asymmetric warfare.
The Ta Chiang, which has a maximum speed of 30 knots (55.6kph), displacement of 685 tonnes and an operational range of 1,800 nautical miles (3,334km), was launched in Yilan County in December last year.
It has been dubbed by Taiwanese military experts an “aircraft-carrier killer,” as its arsenal includes Hsiung Feng II and III anti-ship missiles, a 76mm cannon and Sea Sword II medium-range missiles.
The navy has said that it is seeking another five Tuo Chiang-class corvettes before 2023.
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