7/2/2023 0 Comments Taiwan harpoon missile![]() Reuters would report in its article, Taiwan to buy 400 US anti-ship missiles to face China threat, that: The Pentagon announced a 1.17 billion contract for 400 of the anti-ship missiles on April 7 without naming the buyer, saying production was. It’s building its own surveillance-strike system, one that could pummel Chinese ships-and the land bases that support them-hundreds of miles from Taiwan’s shore. The 400 purchased Harpoon anti-ship missiles will take years at the earliest to arrive. But Taipei isn’t just waiting for that fleet to sail across the Taiwan Strait and land troops. It’s true that China is building one of the world’s biggest and most modern fleets. And bigger Reaper drones could replace the Albatrosses. If the proposed arms deal goes through, the F-16s could deploy with SLAM-ERs. ![]() It’s not for no reason that, when the Taiwanese air force deployed Harpoon-armed F-16s to the outlying Penghu Islands in response to China’s August naval mobilization, the Taiwanese fleet simultaneously sent small Albatross drones to the nearby Pratas Islands. Which means Taiwan’s surveillance capabilities are inseparable from its missile capabilities. In other words, you have to know where to point them. Harpoon has a tiny radar in its nose for terminal guidance. The Taiwanese air force’s growing fleet of upgraded F-16s likely is the main launch platform for Harpoon and SLAM-ER missiles. ![]() In addition to buying Harpoon and SLAM-ER missiles from the United States, Taipei has developed its own anti-ship and land-attack missiles, including several models that could strike Chinese forces on the mainland. ![]() Taiwan’s military now plans to hunker down and lob missiles at Chinese invaders. Taiwan once planned to send large warships to battle a Chinese invasion fleet a hundred miles or more from the Taiwanese coast, but China’s massive naval build-up has rendered that approach unworkable, if not suicidal for the Taiwanese navy. “Taiwan is finally buying what it really needs to implement its asymmetric defense strategy,” Evan Medeiros, a Georgetown University security expert, told The New York Times. The upgrading of the Patriot anti-missile batteries is expected to improve Taiwan’s capability to fend off a ballistic missile attack by China, it added.The air-launched SLAM-ER missiles and ground-launched Harpoon missiles arguably are the most important-and, to China, provocative-weapons in the current deal. Two of the three batteries have been upgraded to date, the report said. The ministry’s report outlined plans to upgrade all three of Taiwan’s Patriot-II anti-missile batteries and purchase three Patriot III batteries between 20 at a cost of more than $6 billion. The ministry sent its report to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee a day before Deputy Defense Minister Andrew Hsia was scheduled to report on Taiwan-US military exchanges and progress in Taiwan’s arms procurement projects. The sea-skimming missiles, which have a range of about 125 kilometers, would bring targets along the Chinese coast within range for Taiwan, the media has said. The deal reportedly includes 32 UGM-84L sub-launched Harpoon Block II missiles along with two UTM-84L exercise missiles and two weapon control systems, according to media coverage. The $195.5 million deal, to be fulfilled between 20, is aimed at extending the country’s undersea force’s strike capability, the ministry said. ![]() The anti-ship cruise missiles will become operational on Taiwan’s two Dutch-built combat-capable submarines, the Tuesday report said. The United States has begun delivery of submarine-launched Harpoon missiles this year, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has said in a report to the Legislative Yuan. ![]()
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