China launched its largest ever military drills in the seas and skies around Taiwan on Thursday,
a day after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi enraged Beijing by making
a solidarity trip to the self-ruled island that China claims as its own.
Taiwan condemned its "evil neighbor" on Friday after China fired multiple missiles into its
surrounding waters, as many as four of which flew over the island’s capital Taipei in
an unprecedented escalation during live-fire exercises.
A Chinese incursion in Taiwan looks more probable than ever and the situation remains fluid.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how 7 American made weapons will help Taiwan defend
itself against China ?
Let's get into the details.
FIM-92 Stinger is a Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared
homing surface-to-air missile (SAM).
Stinger entered service in 1981 and is manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems.
FIM-92 Stinger is a passive surface-to-air missile system consisting of a launcher and
missiles.
Stinger is light to carry and easy to operate.
It can be used by a single person or a two-member team consisting of a team chief and gunner.
It has a speed of Mach 2.54 and a maximum range of 8 km or 5 miles.
Taiwan is in the process of acquiring 250 Stingers from the U.S and will fit nicely
into the Taiwan strategy of asymmetric warfare.
It has proven effective against Russian platforms in Ukraine and would be used to target Chinese
low-flying aerial assets.
The AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response) is an advanced
stand-off precision-guided, air-launched cruise missile produced by Boeing Defense, Space
& Security for the United States Armed Forces and their allies.
It is capable of attacking land and sea targets at a range of 270 km or 167 miles.
The SLAM-ER relies on the Global Positioning System (GPS) and infrared imaging for its
navigation and control, and it can strike both moving and stationary targets.
The SLAM-ER is a very accurate weapon and has one of the best circular error probable
(CEP) of any missile used by the U.S. Navy.
Taiwan is getting 135 of these potent missiles.
As we can see from Ukraine - Russia conflict, artillery is playing a very significant role.
Apart from indigenous once, Taiwan is a getting powerful American platform.
The Paladin M109 is a 155 mm turreted self-propelled howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s
to replace the M44.
It has been upgraded a number of times.
The 39-calibre 155mm M284 cannon, which is fitted with an M182 gun mount, has a range
of 24km or 15 miles using unassisted rounds or 30 km or 18.5 miles using rocket-assisted
rounds.
The M109A6 Paladin achieves a maximum firing rate of up to eight rounds a minute, or three
rounds in 15 seconds, and a sustained firing rate of one round every three minutes.
A 12.7mm M2 machine gun is mounted on the right-hand side of the turret.
The vehicle’s inertial positioning and navigation system are integrated with the automatic fire
control system.
The U.S has already approved sales of 40 of these and more are in the pipeline.
Taiwan will receive the M1A2T which is a special configuration of the M1A2C.
M1A2C is the latest variant of Abram and contains many improvements over its predecessor.
This includes an Ammunition Data Link for improved targeting, the addition of enhanced-infrared
sights, an auxiliary power unit (APU), the addition of passive armor as well a new explosive
reactive armor (ERA) package, and the induction of the Trophy Active Protection System (APS)
that can neutralize incoming projectiles.
A better gun is also present.
The main difference between the M1A2T & M1A2C is that it will have tungsten carbide armor
instead of depleted uranium armor.
The M1A2s will likely be added to two armored battalions in northern Taiwan and are expected
to replace some of the aging M60A3 “Patton” and CM-11 “Brave Tiger” tanks currently
in service.
These are expected to be deployed by 2022.
HIMARS is one weapon that made its mark in Ukraine - Russia conflict.
US Department of State before had approved the sale of 11 truck-based rocket launchers
made by Lockheed Martin Corp.
HIMARS has one universal pod that can accommodate 6 unguided/guided missiles of 227 mm caliber
or one MGM-140 ATACMS.
With the extended range guided rocket GMLRS or Guided MLRS which have been provided to
Ukraine, HIMARS can reach a land target at a maximum range of 46 miles or 75 km and have
a reliability rating exceeding 98 % for a CEP of 10 m.
GMLRS could make Chinese amphibious operations even more difficult.
MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System or ATACMS has a range of up to 190 miles (300 km), with
solid propellant, and is 13 feet (4.0 m) high and 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter.
It has different variants, equipped with different types of warheads like HE, HE blast fragmentation
etc.
These could be used to take out China's shore-based missile launchers.
The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle
or UAV capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics
Aeronautical Systems primarily for the United States Air Force.
The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance
The MQ-9 is a larger, heavier, and more capable aircraft than its predecessor Predator and
has an endurance of 27 hours, a service ceiling of 50,000 ft, a range of 1,151 mi or 1,852
km and a max speed of 300 mph or 482 km/h
Reaper has the ability to carry around 2,500 lbs or 1100 kg of weapons payload through
its external hardpoints and can be armed with a combination of AGM-114 Hellfire, GBU-12
Paveway, and GBU-38 JDAM munitions.
4 of these are approved for sale and will be with Taiwan.
Reaper hovering over the strait will be an excellent force multiplier for Taiwan since
it will be able to keep a tab on the movement of Chinese forces.
The F-16 is a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General
Dynamics which is now Lockheed Martin for the United States Air Force.
It was primarily designed to be an air superiority day fighter but has evolved into a successful
all-weather multirole aircraft.
It has a max speed of Mach 2 and a combat radius of 340 mi or 550 km.
The fighter can be armed with a wide range of air-to-air, air-to-ground, and anti-ship
weapons.
The F-16 has seen many upgrades over the years.
The V or Viper variant has the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR)
which is much more capable.
Another aspect is that the variant has Center Pedestal Display (CPD) which will enhance
situational awareness to a considerable extent.
Taiwan will receive 66 F-16 V by 2026.
Importantly its existing fleet of 142 F-16A and F-16B fighter jets are also being upgraded
to V standards.