Taiwan would soon send an official request to the US to purchase a vehicle-based mine dispensing system that enables the quick delivery of land mines to large areas, an military source said on Wednesday.
The proposal to buy the M136 Volcano Vehicle-Launched Scatterable Mine System was approved by the Executive Yuan late last year, the unnamed source said.
The military is preparing to send a letter of request to Washington to initiate the process to purchase the system, the source said, without elaborating on the amount the military would spend on the system and when the system would be delivered.
The US Army in the 1980s developed the M136 Volcano automated mine delivery system that can be mounted on ground vehicles or helicopters.
The system, called Ground Volcano when fitted to ground vehicles, uses prepackaged mine canisters that contain multiple anti-personnel and/or anti-tank mines that can be placed over large areas.
Based on the Ministry of National Defense’s list of steps involved when Taiwan asks the US to sell it weapons, the next step would be Washington sending a letter of offer and acceptance to Taipei in which it would spell out the prospective deal’s details.
Taipei would then review the offer and complete a proposal for the procurement project before sending the letter of offer and acceptance back to Washington.
US government agencies would then review the proposal before the US government would notify the US Congress of the sale and the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency would make the deal public.
The process is completed once both sides sign the letter of offer and acceptance, the defense military’s list shows.
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