Taiwan may cancel its plan to acquire anti-submarine warfare helicopters from the United States because the price was “too high,” its defense minister said Thursday.
Delayed Stingers
Chiu said that Taiwan has paid for two additional arms purchases—namely the M109A6 medium self-propelled Howitzer artillery systems and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles—and pressed the United States to deliver them expeditiously.But the Raytheon Technologies Stingers anti-craft missiles delivery to Taiwan has reportedly been delayed due to increased demand for the weapons in Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
“It is true that due to the Russia-Ukraine war, we have been told recently that the delivery of Stingers could be delayed,” Chiu said, adding that his ministry has prepared contingency plans to safeguard Taiwan’s combat readiness amid the delay.
Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry said Monday that it was considering alternative weapons options after the U.S. informed the M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers purchased by Taiwan would not be delivered until at least 2026.
The ministry said that Washington proposed alternative long-range alternative weapons such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, a truck-based rocket launcher made by Lockheed Martin Corp.
“Considering the need for precise firepower to defend Taiwan and Penghu, we have cooperated with the U.S. to research and develop sophisticated alternatives to meet actual operational needs,” it stated.
![Two 8-inch self-propelled artillery guns are fired during the 35th "Han Kuang" military drill in southern Taiwan's Pingtung county on May 30, 2019. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F04%2F02%2FGettyImages-1146930280-600x400.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
Cross-Strait Tensions
Tensions between self-ruled Taiwan and the regime in Beijing have been escalating, with China claiming the island as part of its territory and has vowed to conquer Taiwan by force if necessary.According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, the Liaoning and its five-ship strike group were first spotted approximately 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Nagasaki prefecture’s Danjo islands on May 1. Another destroyer and a frigate joined the flotilla late on May 1 and early on May 2.
Taiwan said it issued radio warnings and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the movements of the Chinese naval vessels.