A defense official said Monday that Taiwan wants to acquire long-range air-range missiles from the United States, while the Chinese-claimed island is strengthening its forces in light of increasing pressure from Beijing.
While Taiwan developed its own long-range missiles, to enable it to strike back deep into China in the event of war, it also looked to the United States to offer more advanced weapons. read more
Asked in parliament which weapons systems Taiwan wants to buy, but the United States has not yet said it can do so, Lee Shih-chiang, head of the Department of Defense’s strategic planning division Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) .N)’s AGM-158.
“We are still looking for it” at the United States, Lee said. “Communication channels are very smooth and normal.”
He did not expand.
The AGM-158 JASSM, which stands as a joint shelf-to-surface rocket, can have a range of nearly 1,000 km (621 miles), depending on the model, and is fixed to aircraft, including F -16s, operating Taiwan.
Lockheed Martin says the missile is designed to destroy valuable, well-defended, fixed and resettable targets and is launched far enough away to keep the launch aircraft far from the enemy air defense systems.
China has intensified military activities near Taiwan as it tries to force the Taipei government to accept allegations of sovereignty in Beijing.
Taiwan’s armed forces, dwarfed by China’s, are in the midst of a modernization program to provide a more effective deterrent, including the possibility of striking back at bases far off the coast of China in the event of a conflict.
Taiwan’s army has traditionally concentrated on defending the island against a Chinese attack.
However, President Tsai Ing-wen stressed the importance of developing an ‘asymmetric’ deterrent, using mobile equipment that is difficult to find and destroy, and capable of hitting targets far from Taiwan. .
Washington, Taipei’s largest foreign arms supplier, is eager to create a military counterbalance with Chinese forces and build on an effort known in the Pentagon as “Fortress Taiwan”.
Beijing considers Taiwan to be sovereign Chinese territory, and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control.
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