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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Defense ministry eyes 1,440 missiles
Taiwanese troops launch a Javelin anti-tank missile during a drill in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Military News Agency
By Liu Yu-chieh and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The army is to receive 1,240 tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided （TOW） 2B and 200 Javelin anti-tank guided missiles next year, the Ministry of National Defense’s budget showed, in a sign that Taiwan’s arms orders were not affected by the war in Ukraine.
The army allocated a budget for 1,700 TOW missiles to be delivered between 2018 and 2025, and 400 Javelin missiles with 42 command launch units to be delivered between 2019 and next year, the ministry’s general budget for fiscal year 2024 submitted to the Legislative Yuan showed.
The schedules in the published budget are well within the timetables disclosed to the legislature at the time the deals were announced.
The nation has received 460 TOW 2B missiles and next year’s shipments would complete the order.
Taiwan has received half of the Javelin missiles it ordered, with the rest to arrive next year if the legislature approves the army’s proposed NT$400 million （US$12.5 million） allocation.
The defense ministry’s general budget for fiscal year 2024 showed that it is to buy from the US 11 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems （HIMARS）, which are to be delivered next year.
The proposed NT$6.85 billion budget would fund the procurement of artillery systems, two training simulators and 64 Army Tactical Missile Systems （ATACM） in addition to maintenance and operating costs, the ministry said in the document.
The acquisition would provide the armed forces with an artillery system capable of delivering long-range precision strikes against area targets and high mobility to repel an amphibious attack on the nation, the ministry said.
A tranche of 18 HIMARS, 864 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems and 20 ATACMs are expected to be delivered by 2027 to replace a dropped bid for M109A6 self-propelled howitzers, it said.
With the new additions, the military can fire 114 full salvos of six rockets and 84 ATACM strikes, the ministry said.
The combined costs of the two arms packages and related maintenance were estimated to be NT$32.5 billion, it said.
Taiwan’s first group of 30 HIMARS operators and maintenance technicians are to be trained in the US and then return to become instructors, the ministry said, adding that it aims to create an indigenous capability to maintain the weapons.
Their training is scheduled to take place from February to October next year, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the armed forces are to buy about NT$1.49 billion of helmets, bullet-resistant vests and ballistic plates in the next three years to equip conscripts who are expected to join the ranks following the reinstatement of the mandatory military draft, it said.
That figure includes NT$1.32 billion for the army, NT$47.7 million for the navy and NT$135 million for the air force, it said, adding that light arms and mortars would be purchased through a separate budget.
Additional reporting by Wu Su-wei
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
