The United States earlier this month announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan,
vowing to keep boosting the island's defenses as tensions soar with Beijing,
which warned Washington of "counter-measures."
The sale comes a month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
defiantly visited the self-governing democracy, prompting mainland China
to launch a show of force that could be a trial run for a future invasion.
The package -- the largest for Taiwan approved under President Joe Biden's
administration -- includes $665 million for contractor support
to maintain and upgrade an AN/FPS-115 PAVE PAWS early warning radar system.
Taiwan will also spend $355 million on 60 Harpoon Block II missiles and $85.6
million on more than 100 Sidewinder missiles. The sale needs the approval of the US Congress,
which is virtually assured as Taiwan enjoys strong support across party lines.
Taiwanese Presidential Office spokesman Chang Tun-han in a statement thanked the
United States for its continued support for the island's security and defense
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said,
"It sends wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces and
severely jeopardizes China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,"
He added, "China will resolutely take legitimate
and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation"
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why the approval of a $1.1 billion arms
package for Taiwan by the US has got China worried?
Let's check each component of the package one by one.
AN/FPS-115 was built in the Cold War to give early warning of a nuclear attack,
to allow time for US bombers to get off the ground and land-based US missiles to be launched,
and to decrease the chance that a preemptive strike could destroy US strategic nuclear forces
The AN/FPS-115 radar consists of two-phased arrays of antenna elements mounted on two sloping sides
of the 105 ft high transmitter building, which are oriented 120° apart in azimuth.
The beam from each array can be deflected up to 60° from the array's central boresight axis,
allowing each array to cover an azimuth angle of 120°,
thus the entire radar can cover an azimuth of 240°.
An AN/FPS-115 system was sold to Taiwan in 2000 and installed at Loshan or Leshan Mountain,
Tai'an, Miaoli in 2006. It was commissioned into service in 2013.
The system cost approximately 1.4 billion USD and Raytheon was the prime contractor.
It provides up to six minutes' notice of a Chinese ballistic missile attack.
Since the radar site in Taiwan sits on top of a mountain at an elevation
of over 2,600 m (8,500 ft), it has an excellent vantage point.
Due to its extremely elevated position, the Taiwanese set has the unique ability
to track surface ships. Detection and tracking data is believed to be shared with the United
States in real-time, however, this has not been officially confirmed.
RGM 84L Block II are capable of hitting ships at sea as well as targets in port
and on land with an upgrade from the Boeing Advanced Harpoon Weapon Control System.
Harpoon Block II expands the capabilities of the original Harpoon anti-ship weapon.
The major system components of the Harpoon Block II missile include a booster,
launch support structure, and canisters, as well as a command and launch system.
The missile employs a GPS-aided inertial navigation system (INS)
to strike targets on land and ships. Harpoon Block II integrates the low-cost
inertial measuring unit from the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) program.
It also uses a software package, mission computer, integrated GPS/INS, and GPS antenna
and receiver from the AGM-84H Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM-ER).
The guidance control unit (GCU) of Harpoon Block
II integrates a selective availability anti-spoofing module (SAASM) GPS receiver.
The GCU can also be incorporated with a data link for network-centric operation.
The GPS/INS eliminates midcourse guidance issues on the way to the target area
while performing conventional anti-ship missions, including open-sea and near-land.
The accurate navigation combined with an improved launch system provides
better discrimination of target vessels from islands and nearby land zones or other ships.
The advanced features of Block II provide a high hit probability against warships operating
near shore or sailing on narrow sea routes. The 227 kg or 500 lb penetration, high-explosive
blast warhead provides the missile with sufficient firepower to cripple a large warship.
It will play a crucial role in thwarting a Chinese attack since PLAN warships and amphibious landing
crafts will have to cross the 100 miles or 160 km wide Taiwan Strait to mount an invasion.
The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile")
is a short-range supersonic heat-seeking air-to-air missile that entered service
with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964.
Since then the Sidewinder has proved to be an enduring international success,
and its latest variants remain standard equipment in most Western-aligned air forces.
The missile's main components are an infrared homing guidance section,
an active optical target detector, a high-explosive warhead and a rocket motor.
The infrared guidance head enables the missile to home in on target aircraft engine exhaust.
The missile has a 2-way data link and is able to engage a target in a
360-degree envelope around the aircraft using Lock-in After Launch mechanism.
Through this mechanism, the missile can acquire the target
after it has been launched from the aircraft. 9X is the newest variant of Sidewinder and is
thought to have a range of 30 miles or 48 km though the exact specifications are classified.
It is very well integrated with the F-16 fighter jets that Taiwan
possesses and will be a very potent weapon against any Chinese combat jet.