Author: Shi Jiangyue
On September 2, local time, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced three batches of arms sales to Taiwan worth a total of about $1.1 billion, including 100 "Sidewinder" air-to-air missiles, 60 "Harpoon" anti-ship missiles and surveillance radar contracts. This is the sixth arms sale to Taiwan since the Biden administration took office.
The U.S. Department of State has notified Congress on the 2nd that the arms sale includes 60 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II anti-ship cruise missiles worth $355 million, 100 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder air-to-air missiles worth $85.6 million, and a $655.4 million surveillance radar contract.
Since taking office in January 2021, the Biden administration has made five arms sales to Taiwan, worth $1.173 billion. On September 2, the sixth arms sale to Taiwan, it was also the largest one, and three batches of arms sales were announced in one go.
The purpose of the US side is very clear, that is, to modernize the military in support of Taiwan and maintain the so-called reliable "defense capability", which the US side describes as "helping to maintain regional political stability, military balance and economic development."
A U.S. State Department spokesman claimed that Washington provides "the armaments and services needed for Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense" under the Taiwan Relations Act. According to relevant statistics, since 2010, the US executive branch has notified Congress of arms sales to Taiwan with a total price of more than $35 billion.
As for the Harpoon anti-ship missile, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it would provide a flexible solution for Taiwan to strengthen its military capabilities, and the Taiwan military will be able to use "highly reliable and effective systems to counter or deter maritime aggression, coastal blockades and amphibious attacks." The surveillance radar contract can improve the taiwan's ability to perceive the situation and warn of threats, which is very important for regional security.
The range of the "Harpoon" missile is about 300 kilometers, and the previous Danish Defence Force's "Harpoon" shore ship missile system is equipped with the same missile model as the "Harpoon" missile model sold this time, which can not only hit surface targets, but also upgrade 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 response to the Sidewinder air-to-air missile, the United States said that this will help the modernization of taiwan's military, in response to the previous and future threats, "this equipment allows the Taiwan military to use a highly reliable and effective system, improve operational efficiency when needed, and resist or deter aggression by accurately shooting at air targets."
After the news that the Biden administration may soon approve a new arms sale to Taiwan amounting to $1.1 billion, a new news has come about the arms sales to Taiwan.
According to the 2023 budget sent to the Taiwan Provincial Legislature on August 31, the Taiwan Army decided not to purchase 40 M109A6 "Paladin" 155 mm self-propelled guns, so it instead purchased additional "Haimas" multiple rocket launchers from the United States.
In terms of quantity, the number of 11 sets of "Haimas" multiple rockets has increased significantly to 29 sets, and the number of Army tactical regional missiles that can be fired by "Haimas" multiple rockets has also increased to 84. In addition, the Taiwan Army will also purchase an additional 864 guided rockets that can be used for the "Haimas" multiple rocket launchers.
Overall, the additional 18 sets of "Haimas" multiple rocket artillery systems, Army tactical missiles and guided rockets are expected to be delivered by 2027.
The reason why the Taiwan military abandoned the 40 M109A6 large-caliber self-propelled guns ordered by the Taiwan military and purchased additional "Haimas" multiple rocket launchers instead is very simple.
The "Haimas" multiple rocket launcher can strike a larger range, and can threaten more targets of the opponent by firing Army tactical area missiles with a range of about 300 kilometers.
From the perspective of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, although the United States did not allow the supply of Army tactical area missiles when it provided the "Haimas" multiple rocket launcher system to Ukraine, relying on the guided rockets launched by the system with a range of about 80 kilometers, the Ukrainian army has been able to pose a greater threat to Russian military targets than before.
Judging from the geographical conditions of the Taiwan Strait, the length is about 370 kilometers, the width is narrow in the north and the width is wide in the south, the width is about 200 kilometers at the northern end, and the width of the southern end is about 410 kilometers. And the narrowest place, only about 130 kilometers. The average width is about 200 km. This means that once the Taiwan military has more 300-kilometer range Army tactical area missiles, it will pose a greater threat to targets such as Fujian on the other side of the strait.
There is even clamor from the "independence faction" forces on the island to use the "Haimas" multiple rocket launcher system to launch "strikes" at important targets such as ports, airports, and headquarters of the PLA in the southeast coastal area.
Of course, whether it is the "Haimas" multiple rocket launchers or the "Harpoon" shore-based anti-ship missiles, we are very familiar with them, and there are relatively mature and effective countermeasures to curb the harm that the Taiwan military may bring to the mainland once it possesses these weapons.
First of all, even if the Taiwan military gets all 29 sets of "Haimas" multiple rocket artillery systems, there are only less than 100 tactical surface-to-ground missiles of the Army, and the average distribution of 1 set of "Haimas" can only obtain less than 3 tactical missiles. Apparently, Bay wanted the "Haimas" to play an offensive role, although the range was barely enough, but the number was seriously insufficient.
Second, important targets such as PLA airports, ports, and headquarters on the eastern coast are not "undefended targets" and have sufficient range to threaten these targets. Because the PLA must have set up a tight and efficient defense system for high-value targets such as ports, airports, and command centers.
Therefore, the tactical surface-to-surface missiles launched by Haimas are completely within the ANTI-missile interception capability of the PLA.
Third, for tactical surface-to-surface missiles launched by the Haimas multiple rocket artillery system, as well as guided rockets, we will use powerful electronic warfare equipment to electromagnetically jam them and make the tactical missiles and guided rockets launched by Haimas lose their crosshairs. This is also a very common means.
Finally, we are very familiar with the deployment of the Taiwan military, and once we find that the Taiwan military has abnormal deployment, it will definitely carry out a pre-emptive strike if necessary, such as using the DF-17 hypersonic missile, which can completely destroy the offensive weapons of the Taiwan military. In this way, the threat of the Taiwan military will also be severely damaged.