All 46 MK-48Mod6 AT heavyweight torpedoes Taiwan purchased from the US are to be delivered in 2025, a source in the military said yesterday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The source said the shipment was originally to be delivered by 2028, but the Ministry of National Defense, after several rounds of discussions with the US, arranged the delivery for the first half of 2025, the source said.
However, the source said that Washington recently told Taiwan that part of the order would be shipped in the second half of that year.
Photo courtesy of Raytheon Co
The ministry thanked the US for acknowledging Taiwan’s needs in the current cross-strait situation.
The arms package was first discussed in 2017. At the time, the US government was willing to sell Taiwan 46 torpedoes, 36 of which would be for combat use and 10 would be for training.
The order was supposed to total US$250 million.
However, the navy held several rounds of talks with the US and modified its order, reducing the numbers to 24 combat torpedoes and four training torpedoes totaling NT$5.46 billion (US$178.19 million), and asking for delivery by 2028.
Another arms package ordered on May 20, 2020, included 18 torpedoes of the same specification, bringing the total of torpedoes purchased back to 46, the military said.
The navy’s two Jianlong-class submarines and the upcoming Indigenous Defense Submarine prototype would be equipped with them, it said.
The new type of submarine would be capable of carrying 18 torpedoes, and should it pass trials and enter mass production, the navy would order seven more of the vessles, the military said, adding that it would buy more torpedoes from the US to outfit them.
The military said the MK-48Mod6 AT heavyweight torpedoes have a better range, speed and guidance system than the currently used German-made SUT 264 heavyweight wire-guided torpedoes.
The military said the US-made torpedoes are used by the US Navy, ensuring continued efficacy, ready supply and continued updates and upgrades.
The military said the new torpedoes have a maximum speed of 55 knots (102kph), or 60 percent faster than the SUTs, while their maximum range of 50km, at 40 knots, is 25 percent greater than the SUTs’.
Upgrades would focus on increased sound suppression during launches, which seeks to prevent the target from acquiring sonar signals of the launch, the military said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS