US to sell Taiwan 421 million US dollars worth of missiles

Pointblank · Mar 1, 2007

crazyinsane105 said:
Hmm....if the Sky Sword II was good, a better question is why is Taiwan wanting to buy AAM from the Americans (at a jacked up price) whent they could make their own?

It appears to me that Taiwan is trying to buy as many weapons as it can get its hands on. Some of the parts for indigenous missiles are subject to American arms control, and as such, Taiwan has difficulty in sourcing the parts to produce the missiles, and supplements what it can make with what it can buy.

tphuang · Mar 1, 2007

The_Zergling said:
That said, the missiles are key to preserving Taiwan's ability to defend itself against a Chinese invasion, we've been long complaining about the stupidity of having more F-16s than AMRAAMs. Still, that's only about 300 missiles, enough for 2 on each aircraft. That's a pretty uncomfortable margin to work with should conflict arise. The fact that the missiles are C-7 is a definite improvement, though.

LAU129 rockets, Maverick training missiles, aircraft modification (ROCAF's F-16s may be incompatible with new AIM-120C-7 software?)... I'm curious to see what logistics and program support means.

Did I miss something or where did it say that ROCAF got C7? From PAF's recent deal, I think C5 is most likely. Not that it isn't a great missile, since it will still be better than PL-12 and much better than export R-77.

I'm not sure whether they are all AIM120C compatible. I know that they did test fire with AIM-120C5 last year and Bryan C on CDF mentionned before that not all of the F-16s got the software ugprade.

Jeff Head · Mar 1, 2007

The_Zergling said:
aircraft modification and integration, spares and repair parts, support and test equipment, maintenance and pilot training, software support, publications and technical documents, U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance, and other related elements of logistics and program support.

Sounds like the US is making a commitment, by contract, to support these systems for some time. Depending on how long, a lot of dollars can get eaten up annually for these types of services...the spare parts, information, training, software and particularly the man-hours and travel necessary from the US to do it.

Vlad Plasmius · Mar 1, 2007

Now we just have to see if they can somehow manage to get that $14 billion purchase out. Though, I can't help but wonder when Taiwan will get these weapons.

The_Zergling · Mar 2, 2007

tphuang said:
Did I miss something or where did it say that ROCAF got C7? From PAF's recent deal, I think C5 is most likely. Not that it isn't a great missile, since it will still be better than PL-12 and much better than export R-77.

I'm not sure whether they are all AIM120C compatible. I know that they did test fire with AIM-120C5 last year and Bryan C on CDF mentionned before that not all of the F-16s got the software ugprade.

Several of the articles I read noted the C-7, which surprised me at first as well.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Here's one of them. The other was from "(Source: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency; issued Feb. 28, 2007)" which I couldn't find the original link for. A link posted by Bryan C on Taiwanmilitary.org confirmed it, and I'd say he's pretty reliable regarding Taiwan military purchases.

I don't expect the larger arms deal to pass, at least not in its entirety. A safe prediction would probably be a limited package of P-3s along with the additional Patriot missiles and batteries, excluding the submarines.

tphuang · Mar 2, 2007

The_Zergling said:
Several of the articles I read noted the C-7, which surprised me at first as well.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Here's one of them. The other was from "(Source: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency; issued Feb. 28, 2007)" which I couldn't find the original link for. A link posted by Bryan C on Taiwanmilitary.org confirmed it, and I'd say he's pretty reliable regarding Taiwan military purchases.

I don't expect the larger arms deal to pass, at least not in its entirety. A safe prediction would probably be a limited package of P-3s along with the additional Patriot missiles and batteries, excluding the submarines.

quite interesting, C-7 is another step up over C-5. In fact, I don't think any air force other than USAF currently equips C-7. I read RAAF just received the C-5. Definitely a great deal for the F-16s. It could signal that the F-16 deal rejected by Bush is going to come around soon. Maybe Taiwan will finally get off its butt and sign the deal that US was hoping for.

crobato · Mar 2, 2007

optionsss said:
I have two question about ROC, I guess this is a good place to ask.
How good was the medium ranged A2A missile taiwan designed by itself, the Sky sword II?
Is it possible that they fit the missile on the F-16 or even the Mirage 2000? Seems that would be huge boost to the Taiwan's self-defence capability.

No idea how good it is, but it cannot be used on the Mirage or the F-16. Why would they allow it? Gives the French or the US opportunity to rip you off by selling you the missiles.

The Skysword II only works on the IDF fighter.

Clouded Leopard · Mar 3, 2007

crazyinsane105 said:
Hmm....if the Sky Sword II was good, a better question is why is Taiwan wanting to buy AAM from the Americans (at a jacked up price) whent they could make their own?

Sky Sword (Tien Kung) only works on Taiwan's IDFs. They can't be used on the F-16s because they're not software compatible, and the US won't release the source codes needed to integrated F-16 with Tien Kung.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

"The AIM-120C-7 (P3I Phase 3), development of which has begun in 1998, incorporates improved ECCM with jamming detection, an upgraded seeker, and longer range. The latter feature was specifically requested by the U.S. Navy to get a (somewhat) suitable replacement for the AIM-54 Phoenix very-long range missile, which was then planned to be retired together with the F-14D Tomcat around 2007 (actual official retirement was already in September 2004). The AIM-120C-7 was successfully tested against combat-realistic targets in August and September 2003, and IOC was then planned for 2004. This has slipped somewhat, but as of early 2006, the AIM-120C-7 is beginning to be fielded."

The_Zergling said:
I don't expect the larger arms deal to pass, at least not in its entirety. A safe prediction would probably be a limited package of P-3s along with the additional Patriot missiles and batteries, excluding the submarines.

The P-3Cs will probably pass. There might also be the upgrade of the PAC-2+ batteries to PAC-3.

Whether or not the remaining 6 PAC-3s and the submarines pass, we'll have to cross our fingers and hope...

Jeff Head · Mar 4, 2007

Clouded Leopard said:
The latter feature was specifically requested by the U.S. Navy to get a (somewhat) suitable replacement for the AIM-54 Phoenix very-long range missile, which was then planned to be retired together with the F-14D Tomcat around 2007 (actual official retirement was already in September 2004).[/I]

The AIM-120D AMRAAM is going to be one awesome missile...and its about time they got back to something near the range of the Phoenix (AIM-54)...though the AIM-120D sounds like a more lethal shot, particualrly against more manueverable attackers.

ofone · Mar 4, 2007

Mainland will get the weapons which is sold to taiwan,because China will be united peacefully one day

US to sell Taiwan 421 million US dollars worth of missiles

Pointblank

Senior Member

tphuang

Lieutenant General

Jeff Head

General

Vlad Plasmius

Junior Member

The_Zergling

Junior Member

tphuang

Lieutenant General

crobato

Colonel

Clouded Leopard

Junior Member

Jeff Head

General

ofone

New Member