Taiwan media quoted the "New York Times" report today as saying that informed officials said that the Trump administration is promoting large-scale arms sales to Taiwan, including air-to-surface missiles that would allow Taiwan fighter jets to strike mainland targets in the event of a cross-strait conflict. , and claimed that "this move may cause concerns to the mainland military."
reported that the most sensitive weapon system in the US arms sales plan to Taiwan is the AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER air-to-surface missile manufactured by Boeing. Due to its long range, it can be launched by fighter aircraft in places that cannot be reached by the mainland's air defense system . The missile can attack land or sea targets, including warships trying to cross the Taiwan Strait.
The above-mentioned missile is improved from the code-named AGM-84 air-launched Harpoon missile. SLAM-ER means extended range land attack missile with a range of 270 kilometers. In addition to the United States, countries currently using this type of missile include Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Taiwan’s military F-16 fighter jets can use this missile. Last year, the U.S. government announced the sale of 66 F-16Vs to Taiwan, with a total value of approximately US$8 billion.
At the same time, CNN reported that U.S. congressional staff revealed that the United States is preparing to sell 7 weapons systems to Taiwan, including the MQ-9B "SeaGuardian" UAV, UAVs and related equipment and project support amount, estimated to be about 6 billion US dollars (approximately NT$17.5 billion).
Jie Zhong, a researcher at Taiwan's "China Strategic Society", believes that the US sales of air-to-surface missiles to Taiwan are mainly aimed at land targets along the southeastern coast of the mainland to increase Taiwan's "source strike" capabilities. This type of missile is used to attack land targets near the southeastern coastline, allowing more YujiEs with longer ranges to be used to attack targets further inland.
Su Ziyun, director of defense resources and industry at the Taiwan Defense Security Research Institute, said that the SLAM-ER air-to-surface missile has a range of about 350 to 400 kilometers. It can not only destroy mainland bases, airports, and command posts, but also contain the PLA's follow-up echelons to attack Taiwan, such as If reinforcements or supply troops are still assembled at the port, Taiwan will be able to disintegrate it and greatly increase the success rate of counter-landing.
Regarding U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has stated many times that China firmly opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and urges the U.S. to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-U.S. joint communiqués and stop arms sales to Taiwan and U.S.-Taiwan military ties to avoid further damage to Sino-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Straits Herald comprehensive report
