The US State Department has approved possible sales of the long-range surveillance sensors and medium-range air defence missile systems to Taiwan under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) scheme, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced in separate statements on 25 October.
According to the DSCA, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) has requested an unspecified number of Lockheed Martin AN/TPS-77 and Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-78 radar systems, along with associated spare and repair parts, consumables and accessories, and training equipment. The radar systems will be acquired by the US Air Force.
“The proposed sale will improve the recipient’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing multi-mission ground-based radar solutions for medium to long range air surveillance,” the DSCA stated.
Taiwan has also requested three Raytheon National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) comprising three AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel radar systems; 123 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles-Extended Range (AMRAAM-ERs) miisiles; two AMRAAM-C8 guidance sections; four Multifunctional Information Distribution Systems (MIDS); fire distribution centres (FDCs); canister launcher systems; electro-optical/infrared systems; and tactical control centre systems.
“The proposed sale will improve the recipient’s capability to meet current and future threats by contributing to the recipient’s abilities to defend its airspace, provide regional security, and increase interoperability with the United States through its NASAMS program,” it added.
The proposed long-range surveillance radar package is expected to be worth around US$828 million, while the NASAMS package is estimated to be worth US$1.16 billion. The FMS cases have been escalated to the US Congress for final approval.
by Jr Ng
