DSCA announced multiple arms sales’ approval by the US State Department, including ALTIUS UAVs, ATGMs, and artillery systems to Taiwan on its official page.
Arms sale approvals to Taiwan were announced consecutively, including weaponry, Tactical Mission Network, and maintenance support for existing equipment. The sales are listed as:
-Tactical Mission Network: $1.01 billion
-M109A7 SPGs: $4.03 billion; 60 M109A7 SPGs, 60 M992A3 ammunition supply vehicles, 13 M88A2 recovery vehicles
-HIMARS MLRS: $4.05 billion; 82 M142 HIMARS vehicles, 420 MGM-140 Block 1A ATACMS, 756 M31A2 GMLRS Unitary Warhead pods, M30A2 GMLRS Alternative Warhead pods, and auxiliary equipment for HIMARS
-BGM-71F-7-RF TOW-2B Medium-Range ATGMs: $353 million; 1545 BGM-71F-7-RF ATGMs with RF link
-FGM-184F Man-Portable ATGMs: $375 million; 1050 FGM-148F ATGMs and 70 LwCLU fire control units
-ALTIUS-700M and ALTIUS-600 Loitering Munitions: $1.1 billion; undisclosed amount
-Repair services for RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and AH-1W attack helicopters
The sales amount to $10.92 billion in total.
M109A7 SPG
M109A7 SPG is the latest variant in the M109 line of 155 mm SPGs, featuring an electric turret drive in place of hydraulic systems and common powerpack components with Bradley IFVs for improved logistics.
Munitions Included in HIMARS Package
On the HIMARS’ rocket package, the M30A2 227 mm guided rocket is the successor of DPICM rockets with the fragmentation-focused Alternative Warhead. At the same time, the M31A2 is intended for focused effect on a specific target with the Unitary Warhead. The ATACMS Block 1A TBMs approved for sale use a heavier Unitary Warhead. M30 and M31 rockets can reach a range of 80 km while MGM-140 ATACMS Block 1A can reach 300 km.
BGM-71F-7-RF
BGM-71F-7-RF replaces the fibre-optic wire for guidance, used on legacy TOW variants, with an RF datalink. BGM-71F missiles, capable of top-down attack with a range of 4+ km, use a shaped charge warhead.
FGM-184F
FGM-184F, as the current variant of the Javelin ATGM line, has introduced the new LwCLU fire control unit, which is considerably lighter and has improvements in electronics compared to the legacy one.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
