The Taiwan military has a missile. After spending a lot of money to buy it from the United States more than 20 years ago, it has not been allowed to test-fire. Recently, the Taiwan military finally obtained permission from the United States to conduct a live test launch of this missile. The Taiwan Air Force said it was "particularly excited."
In 2000, the Bush administration agreed to sell 200 AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles to Taiwan. At that time, this missile was still relatively advanced, and the People's Liberation Army did not have a missile that could compete with it. In order to avoid irritating the mainland, the United States took money from Taiwan "for reasons of regional balance," but did not hand over these missiles to Taiwan. Instead, it first placed them in Guam for "safekeeping" for the Taiwan military. Later, after the People's Liberation Army introduced the Russian-made R-77 medium-range missile with equivalent performance, it was allowed to transport this batch of AIM-120 to Taiwan. However, the United States still does not allow Taiwan military pilots to test-fire the missile during training. In more than 20 years, the Taiwan military has only conducted live ammunition tests twice, in 2000 and 2001, and both times were in the United States. Usually, the simulation system can only be used to practice the missile launch process. Recently, the United States finally agreed that the Taiwan military can test-fire the missile in Taiwan. So on the 11th, the Taiwan Air Force specially arranged a test-fire exercise of AIM-120. Four F-16Vs each mounted two AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles. They took off from Chiayi Air Force Base and launched in the southeastern airspace of Taiwan. Two of them were said to have "accurately hit the target." As a result, the Taiwan Air Force was "particularly excited", while the green media on the island speculated that the United States allowed the Taiwan military to test-fire the missile in Taiwan for the first time to convey the United States' strong will to "resist China and protect Taiwan", which is equivalent to opening up "insurance" in military terms. ", allowing the Taiwan military to use such advanced weapons on its own.
Speaking of which, the Taiwan military is really cheap. The weapons bought at a high price have been lying in the warehouse for more than 20 years, but they cannot be used by themselves. When and where they can be tested, they must be approved by the United States. I have to be grateful to the United States. This is not mean. Moreover, these AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles were still a thing 20 years ago, but now they have fallen behind and cannot compete with the People's Liberation Army's PL-15 medium-range air-to-air missiles.
But there is one thing we still have to pay attention to. The United States' relaxation of controls on the use of weapons by Taiwan's military sends a signal: At a time when the situation in the Taiwan Strait is already very tense, the United States will further relax its arms sales restrictions to Taiwan and allow Taiwan to possess more advanced weapons to fight against the mainland's military reunification. .
Generally speaking, the US arms sales to Taiwan have become more and more frequent in recent years, and the weapons sold have become more and more offensive, while Taiwan’s appetite has also grown. In October last year, the United States approved the sale to Taiwan of offensive weapons including the "Haimas" high-mobility rocket launcher system and the "SRAM"-ER extended-range standoff air-to-surface missile. The "Haimas" rocket launcher will be equipped with the "Army Tactical Missile System" and has the ability to strike targets 300 kilometers away. The "Sram"-E air-to-surface missile, which is improved from the "Harpoon" anti-ship missile , can be mounted on an F-16 fighter jet and can hit land and sea targets 300 kilometers away, even after launch The attack target can still be changed, and its accuracy has been rated as the one with the smallest error among U.S. Navy weapons. These two highly offensive weapons pose a direct threat to the mainland.
Taiwan is still making progress and is seeking to purchase more advanced AGM-158 joint standoff air-to-surface missiles from the United States. This is currently one of the most advanced air-launched cruise missiles in the world, with a range of 370 kilometers. It uses a large number of stealth technologies and has day and night all-weather combat capabilities. It is mainly used to accurately attack high-value targets such as enemy command centers, air defense systems , missile positions, and ships. It is considered to be one of the most advanced air-launched cruise missiles in the world and is an active equipment of the US military.
It is conceivable that although the relaxation of US arms sales to Taiwan will not affect the final outcome of China's reunification, it will definitely increase the cost of the People's Liberation Army's military reunification. The purpose of the United States is to make China's reunification process more "bloody", causing greater trauma to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and causing greater trouble to our post-unification governance.
Therefore, if the United States further relaxes arms sales to Taiwan, we must also take certain countermeasures and cannot allow the Taiwan military to obtain advanced weapons.Last year, the mainland began to sanction companies selling arms to Taiwan, but this was only a symbolic first step. Further countermeasures can be taken in the future, such as intercepting ships transporting arms and clearing Taiwan military weapons depots at targeted locations. We can also use the various surgical strike methods used by the United States and Israel in countries such as Libya and Iran. If it comes to this point, it also means that Wu Tong is ready.
