Taiwan to potentially acquire 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense System, 400 missiles

 

A Harpoon land based mobile launcher. Photo c/o Wikipedia.


The US State Department has approved the sale of 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems to the government of Republic of China (Taiwan), which is expected to cost around US$2.4 billion.

The proposed deal, with each Harpoon launching system armed with 4 Harpoon anti-ship missiles for a total of 400 Harpoon missiles, also includes 25 truck-mounted radar systems, training missies, spare parts, support and training, is one of the largest defense deals between Taiwan and the US. 

According to the US State Department, Taiwan would be spending its money should it pursue with the deal. 

Despite being an older technology and the short range of only 67 nautical miles, the sheet quantity to cover a small area makes it an important acquisition to defend Taiwan from a possible invasion force from mainland China.

Taiwan already has a more capable coastal defense system using the indigenous Hsiung Feng II subsonic and Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missiles, but production rate has not been enough to meet Taiwan's requirements. The introduction of the Harpoon Coastal Defense System would speed up the establishment of an effective Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) system against China.

In addition to the Harpoons missiles, the US State Department also notified the US Congress on a potential sale of Boeing Standoff Land Attack Missile Extended Range (SLAM-ER) missiles and HIMARS rocket systems, and reconnaissance pods which are expected to cost around US$1.8 billion, and could enable Taiwan to strike coastal targets in the Chinese mainland.



[1] Defense News
[2] Aviation Week
[3] Forbes

Taiwan to potentially acquire 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense System, 400 missiles Taiwan to potentially acquire 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense System, 400 missiles Reviewed by Asia Pacific Defense Journal on November 03, 2020 Rating: 5

No comments