Taiwan Confirms Purchase of 135 Long-Range Ground Attack Missiles

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Taiwanese media reported on the 12th that Taiwan has confirmed the purchase of 135 long-range ground-attack missiles AGM-84H (SLAM-ER) capable of striking China in similar situations.

According to Liberty Times and others on the 12th, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense announced that the United States has agreed to sell 135 AGM-84H long-range air-to-ground missiles to Taiwan, and the budget for the purchase has been secured in next year's defense budget.

China Times reported that if the defense budget bill passes the Legislative Yuan (National Assembly) as originally proposed, long-range precision strike weapons for F-16 fighter jets will be delivered to Taiwan over six years starting from 2022. The total cost amounts to 47.08 billion New Taiwan dollars (approximately 1.9881 trillion Korean won).

The AGM-84H air-to-ground missile is a guided missile that adds infrared imaging and GPS functions to the anti-ship weapon Harpoon, enabling precise attacks on targets day and night. It has a range of 278 km, an accuracy of 3 meters, and can penetrate 1.2 meters of concrete.

It can also be mounted on Taiwan's existing F-16 fighter jets, allowing it to be launched at targets on the Chinese mainland or Chinese naval vessels at sea from Taiwanese airspace in case of emergency.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese media reported that Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwanese airspace for nine consecutive days from the 3rd to the previous day.

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