Taiwan wants to reinforce its missile stockpile, in the face of the growing threat of invasion from Beijing, with a major purchase of AGM-88B HARM and AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) issued a statement informing of the possible sale, under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) modality, of :
- 100 AGM-88B High Velocity Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM)
- 23 HARM training missiles
- 200 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM)
- 4 AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM Guidance sections
- 26 LAU-129 multipurpose launchers.
Also included are LAU-118A missile launchers with aircraft launcher interface computer (ALIC); HARM missile containers; AIM-120 control sections and containers; AIM-120C captive airborne training missiles (CATM); simulated airborne training missiles (DATM); as well as support, test and integration equipment, spare parts, documentation, classified software, training services, etc. The total estimated value of the potential sale is US$619 million.
See also: U.S. to sell Taiwan spare parts for F-16 fighters and other aircraft
The sale, as usual, would be made to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), which is the body in charge of the official representation of the island state in the U.S., since the latter has not yet recognized the Republic of China as an independent state.
The main contractors will be Raytheon Missiles and Defense and Lockheed Martin Corporation. Offsets are usually requested by the buyer. Any offset agreement would be defined in negotiations between the buyer and the contractor.
