Taiwan to Purchase Additional Harpoon Missiles to Counter 'China Threat'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Amid escalating US-China tensions over the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan has made an additional purchase of Harpoon coastal defense missiles from the United States.

According to Taiwanese media on the 6th, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense has allocated a budget of 86.6 billion New Taiwan dollars (approximately 3.632 trillion Korean won) for the purchase contract related to the 'Harpoon Coastal Defense System' (HCDS).

This amount is 18.9 billion New Taiwan dollars more than the initially reported 67.7 billion New Taiwan dollars.

The increase in the budget for the Harpoon defense system is reportedly due to a request from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to improve the interception rate. The Taiwanese military had originally planned a target interception rate of 70% for the Harpoon missiles.

Taiwanese media reported that upon the introduction of the Harpoon missiles, the Haifeng Battalion, a brigade-level mobile missile unit, will be reorganized under a commodore-level 'Navy Coastal Defense Missile Command' and 10 to 12 new companies responsible for operating the Harpoon missiles will be established.

It was further explained that 32 Harpoon missiles will be deployed per company.

Previously, a Taiwanese military expert introduced that Taiwan is pursuing a plan to counter threats from the Chinese military's Type 075 amphibious assault ships and aircraft carriers with US-made Harpoon missiles and domestically built submarines scheduled for 2024.

Meanwhile, US authorities approved the export of 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems to Taiwan last October, valued at 2.37 billion US dollars (approximately 2.7456 trillion Korean won).

This includes 400 RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II missiles for ground launch, 4 RTM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II missiles for training, 411 missile containers, 100 Harpoon missile launch vehicles, 25 radar trucks, and replacement and repair parts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.