The US Department of State has approved the potential sale to Taiwan of USD1.8 billion worth of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, AGM-84H Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) missiles, and MS-110 multispectral airborne airborne reconnaissance pods, along with related equipment, training, support, and services.
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced approvals for the sale of each system under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme in three separate notifications issued on 21 October amid increasing tensions between Beijing and Taipei over the status of Taiwan. The Chinese government sees the island as a break-away province and has vowed to reunite it with the mainland.
Latest version of HIMARS on a 6×6 FMTV chassis with fully-protected cab and launcher with pod of six rockets traversed to the left. The US State Department approved on 21 October the potential sale to Taiwan of 11 M142 HIMARS launchers and related equipment. (Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control)
In its first notification the DSCA said that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) – Taiwan’s principal representative office in the country – had requested the sale of 11 Lockheed Martin M142 HIMARS launchers, 64 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMSs) M57 unitary missiles, seven M1152Al Humvees, 11 M240B 7.62 MM machine guns, and 17 International Field Artillery Tactical Data Systems (IFATDSs).
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