Taiwan is expected to receive several weapons that have been battle tested in Ukraine from the United States over the next few years. Analysts say those weapons can help bolster Taiwan’s defense and strike capabilities amid growing military pressure from China.
In the latest round of arms sales to Taiwan, worth about $2 billion, the United States plans to deliver three medium-range National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, also known as NASAMS. The weapons include advanced AMRAAM Extended Range surface-to-air missiles.
The proposed sales will help improve Taiwan’s security and “assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region,” the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement released October 26.
NASAMS has been battle-tested in Ukraine and is viewed by experts as a significant elevation of Taiwan’s air defense capabilities. Australia and Indonesia are the other countries in the Indo-Pacific region that have received the system from the U.S.
Experts say that NASAMS has a high interoperation capability, and that the medium-range air defense system provides needed coverage in Taiwan’s existing air defense capabilities.
“Currently, Taiwan relies on Stinger missiles for short-range air defense while using the Patriot missile system or Taiwan’s indigenous Tien Kung for long-range air defense, so NASAMS can help fill the gap of Taiwan’s medium-range air defense,” said Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at the Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
He told VOA by phone that when NASAMS is incorporated into Taiwan’s air defense system, it can improve the island’s capabilities to deal with the increasingly frequent patrols the Chinese military is conducting around Taiwan.
“As Chinese naval vessels and military aircraft increase the frequency of their combat-readiness patrols near Taiwan, the risk of abrupt missile attacks launched by Chinese vessels is also increasing, so acquiring NASAMS can further enhance Taiwan’s capabilities to deal with these potential threats,” Su said.
In addition to the surface-to-air missile system, Taiwan’s National Defense Ministry said the island is expected to receive 29 sets of the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, from the United States between the end of 2024 and 2026.
The rocket system has been credited with helping Ukraine destroy Russian weapons or equipment in the ongoing conflict. Apart from receiving HIMARS from Washington, at least 17 Taiwanese soldiers were trained to use the rocket system at a military base in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, this past August.
After a post on the military base’s official Facebook page showed Taiwanese soldiers participating in HIMARS training with counterparts from Romania and Estonia, which has since been removed, Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo said Friday that Taiwan had planned to send at least 30 soldiers to receive HIMARS training in the U.S. between February and October this year.
Since Ukraine has used HIMARS to strike Russian military bases and weaken the Russian military’s momentum, some Taiwanese experts say the systems potentially can be used to target Chinese military facilities in coastal areas.
“The Taiwanese military can use HIMARS to hit some Chinese military facilities along the southeastern coast or target invading troops in different parts of Taiwan,” said Chieh Chung, a research fellow at the Association of Strategic Foresight in Taiwan.
Overall, Chieh told VOA by phone, the acquisition of NASAMS and HIMARS can enhance Taiwan’s capabilities in conducting network-centric warfare and deter China from easily launching an attack against Taiwan.
Other analysts say the series of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan reflects Washington’s commitment to supporting Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, but China will interpret the latest developments as a provocation from Taiwan and the U.S.
“Beijing will interpret this as changing the status quo [across the Taiwan Strait] nevertheless,” Stephen Nagy, a regional security expert at the International Christian University in Japan, told VOA in a written response.
China views Taiwan as part of its territory and repeatedly has vowed to reunify with the island, by force, if necessary. In response to the latest U.S. arms sales to Taiwan last week, Beijing condemned it and urged Washington to stop what it called dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
China showcases its naval capability
The arms sales and training come as China’s two aircraft carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, conducted a dual formation exercise for the first time in the disputed South China Sea from late September to October.
Chinese military analyst Song Zhongping told the state-run China Daily newspaper that the exercise will allow the two Chinese aircraft carriers to “integrate and magnify the power” and “enable the fleet to better organize strikes and handle threats from air and sea.”
Chieh in Taiwan said China is showing the U.S. it could assert maritime claims in disputed waters in the Indo-Pacific region at a time when U.S. aircraft carriers are deployed to the Middle East.
“Since the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has forced the U.S. to deploy its aircraft carrier groups to the region, China is trying to remind Washington that it can impose control over certain parts of the Indo-Pacific region amid an American absence,” he said.
Nagy in Japan said that while China can demonstrate its capability to operate aerial and naval assets near areas of potential conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region — such as the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait — such a formation also exposes the Chinese aircraft carriers as obvious targets for more experienced fighting forces.
“Losing one or two of China’s few aircraft carriers would have a very serious reputational cost for the Chinese Communist Party, and the U.S. and its partners understand this, so they are preparing for their scenarios,” he said.