Taiwan to buy 400 US anti-ship missiles to face China threat, say sources

Taiwan would purchase up to 400 US land-launched Harpoon missiles in response to China’s growing threat, Bloomberg News said on Monday, citing the chairman of a trade association and people familiar with the situation.

A $1.17 billion deal for 400 of the anti-ship missiles was revealed by the Pentagon on 7 April; the customer was not named, but it was said that manufacture was anticipated to be finished by March 2029. According to Bloomberg, Taiwan was the buyer.

The Pentagon declined to comment directly on the deal, but said: “The United States makes available to Taiwan defence articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defence capability.”

In 2020, Taiwan said that it planned to buy land-based Boeing-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles as part of its military modernization efforts.

A contract with Boeing that the US Naval Air Systems Command issued on Taiwan’s behalf marks the first time it will get the mobile, land-launched version, the Bloomberg report said, citing Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council. It had previously purchased the ship-launched version.

Boeing referred questions to the Pentagon.

This month, US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California and stressed the need to accelerate arms deliveries to Taiwan in the face of rising threats from China.

After the meeting, Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said he would like to look for ways to get Harpoon missiles to Taiwan ahead of those scheduled to go to Saudi Arabia.

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