Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

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sndef888

Captain
Registered Member
Is it just me or is the US ripping Taiwan off like crazy? 4 drones for 600 million? And that harpoon sale as well
 
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ougoah

Brigadier
Registered Member
sndef888 said:
Is it just me or is the US ripping Taiwan off like crazy? 4 drones for 600 million? And that harpoon sale as well
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Can't be in Taiwanese dollars otherwise each drone would cost much less than the American unit price. The 600M USD must include other weapons. Even 4 MQ-9 for 600M is 150M each. Even accounting for A LOT of spares and A LOT of weaponry and dedicated 24 hour crews Reaper concierge service lol, that's still 100M USD more for each than what another customer would be paying.

This means either the 600M estimate is off, it's including plenty of other equipment and weapons, or some people in Taiwan are pocketing a nice bit of change. Probably a combination of all three.
 
siegecrossbow

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
MQ-9B (even with armament) is a very bad buy at this price. Money is far better spent on air defense but I don't think Taiwan gets to choose what it can purchase.
 
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supersnoop

Major
Registered Member
ougoah said:
Can't be in Taiwanese dollars otherwise each drone would cost much less than the American unit price. The 600M USD must include other weapons. Even 4 MQ-9 for 600M is 150M each. Even accounting for A LOT of spares and A LOT of weaponry and dedicated 24 hour crews Reaper concierge service lol, that's still 100M USD more for each than what another customer would be paying.

This means either the 600M estimate is off, it's including plenty of other equipment and weapons, or some people in Taiwan are pocketing a nice bit of change. Probably a combination of all three.
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The primary source is available in the article:
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No armaments in the list
Yes, only 4 drones
Support, training, and related non-weapons systems included (and weapons hard points)

This recent batch of arms sales to Taiwan is reeking of corruption of at least one side if not both. None of these prices make sense. Even if Taiwan doesn't get to choose who to buy from (basically US only), I'm not sure why they would choose getting ripped off. If Turkey can make an effective armed drone, I don't see how Taiwan would not be able to.

4 unarmed drones will not provide any meaningful enhancements of existing capabilities, which you can at least say for 400 Harpoons, even if the Harpoons are overpriced.
 
Temstar

Temstar

Brigadier
Registered Member
So these four MQ-9B, I keep hearing they're not actually capable of carrying weapons. Is that just a case of Taiwan didn't buy any weapons to go with them or is this actually a deliberately disabled functionality out of the factory?
 
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Skywatcher

Captain
Temstar said:
So these four MQ-9B, I keep hearing they're not actually capable of carrying weapons. Is that just a case of Taiwan didn't buy any weapons to go with them or is this actually a deliberately disabled functionality out of the factory?
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Why bother? Arming the MQ-9B would be a waste of money, since there's no way they'd be survivable in any sort of conceivable combat scenario in the Straits.
 
siegecrossbow

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Temstar said:
So these four MQ-9B, I keep hearing they're not actually capable of carrying weapons. Is that just a case of Taiwan didn't buy any weapons to go with them or is this actually a deliberately disabled functionality out of the factory?
Click to expand...

I think the weapons capabilities are neutered, just like how air to surface weapons were for the Taiwanese Mirage-2000.
 
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