The Biden administration's largest "arms sales to Taiwan" are coming? Where are the main threats?
The US media "Politico" quoted 3 sources as saying on the 29th that the Biden administration plans to formally require the US Congress to pass an arms sales case to Taiwan, with an estimated amount of 1.1 billion US dollars, which may be the largest military sales to Taiwan since the Biden administration took office.
The main content of this arms sale is 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles. All of them are closely targeted at the possible military operations in the Taiwan Strait by the PLA.
In the still planned arms sale to Taiwan, the anti-ship missile is a $355 million 60 Harpoon missile modeled RGM-84L-4 Block II.
The Harpoon missile has a range of about 300 kilometers, and the previous Danish Defence Force's Harpoon shoreline missile system was equipped with a missile type of RGM-84L-4 Block 2 Harpoon missile, which is not only capable of striking surface targets, but also upgraded its weapons control system to support attacking ports and ground targets.
Therefore, the "Harpoon" missile sold by the United States to Taiwan is likely to be improved to shore-based launch and can hit land-based targets.
In fact, on October 26, 2020, the U.S. State Department under Pompeo's auspices formally approved an extremely sensitive arms deal, namely the export of 100 Harpoon coastal patrol missile systems to Taiwan, including 100 launcher transport vehicles, 411 missile containers, 404 Harpoon missiles (including 4 training bombs) and 25 radar command vehicles. Among them, 400 are RGM-84L-4 Block 2 "Harpoon" missiles.
100 launch transport vehicles and other equipment can form 25 "Harpoon" coastal defense cruise missile battalions, thus greatly enhancing the Taiwan military's long-range anti-ship combat capability. Because the Harpoon missile has a range of 250 to 300 kilometers, this missile system is actually not just a defensive weapon, but has a strong active offensive capability.
In addition, the upcoming arms sales to Taiwan include 100 100 100AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles worth $85.6 million and an extension of a contract for surveillance radars for $655 million. The Sidewinder missile will be equipped with F-16 fighter jets supplied to Taiwan by the United States.
