The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS)
After announcing in September that up to seven major weapons packages were being considered, US officials have revealed that three weapons systems have been approved for sale to Taiwan by the US State Department and notifications of the proposed transactions have been sent to the US Congress for consideration.
Reuters has reported that on Monday five sources, who declined to be identified, informed the news agency that the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee have been notified that three of the planned weapons sales had been approved by the State Department.
The notifications sent to the Congress concern the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) made by Lockheed Martin Corp, long-range air-to-ground missiles (called SLAM-ER) made by Boeing Co, and external sensor pods for F-16 fighter jets that allow for real-time transmission of imagery and data from the aircraft back to ground stations.
Notifications for the pending sale of other advanced weapons systems, including advanced aerial drones, land-based Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and underwater mines, are expected to be forwarded to the Congress soon.
No official statements have been made concerning the reports.
The announcement follows calls last week by senior US officials urging Taiwan to spend more on its own defence and to carry out military reforms to make clear to China the risks of attempting to invade.
Such steps however also significantly increase the risk that China will indeed attempt an invasion, invoking an impression that the ‘window of opportunity’ for unification may be closing and that decisive action must be taken before Taiwan receives and learns how to operate powerful new weapons systems.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said US arms sales to Taiwan are severely damaging to China’s sovereignty and security interests, and urged Washington to recognize the harm the transaction would cause and immediately cancel them.
“China will make a legitimate and necessary response according to how the situation develops,” Zhao told reporters in Beijing. LINK
Meanwhile, the Taiwanese Air Force Command issued a press release on Tuesday (October 13) stating that a foreigner spotted in a photo taken during President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent visit to the Leshan radar station was an US technical advisor.
In response to speculation prompted by the photo, the Air Force stated that the advisor was dispatched by the US in accordance with a previous arms sale agreement to assist with radar system operations, ensure proper equipment maintenance, and advise on consolidating Taiwan’s air defence.
The Air Force statement also called on the public to refrain from further speculation.
The Leshan radar station is located in Hsinchu’s Wufeng Township and hosts a Cold War-era Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry Phased Array Warning System (PAVE PAWS) early warning radar.
The radar was purchased from the US in 2000 and commissioned in 2013, and can detect and monitor aircraft at a distance of up to 5,000 kilometres. LINK
China has adopted a more aggressive military posture with respect to Taiwan since the prospective weapons deals were announced in September, with several senior US administration officials also visiting Taiwan since August – another inflammatory action which the US had avoided for many years.
There have been incursions by People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on an almost daily basis since September 16. China has also substantially stepped up both the frequency and scale of its military exercises in adjacent maritime zones, the latest to be held involving live-fire drills off the coast of Zhejiang Province in the East China Sea and off the coast of Liaoning Province in the Bohai Sea on Wednesday (October 14).
US-China relations have plunged to the lowest point in decades, and the prospects for improvement in the near future are very slim as both President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, have sought to appear ‘tough’ in their approach to Beijing.
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Suspiciously quick processes happening there.
I dont think so. It has been like that since I remember. Suddenly something happen in threats and confrontation, and suddenly its like this.
They started to use lbs/miles in the specs?
Why only six?
I mean the load amount (rockets)
They already are loaded, so its an upgrade or a supplement.
We fx has 4 Korvettes and therefore has ordered a Skud group for them and also replace some smaller and old missiles on them.
Probably that’s the truck capacity.
My guess is that it is to make the customer buy more than one unit if they want any real coverage from a volley.
Taiwan should invest in this during the lowest tides. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6254e29e78cbbf64834c0a1d3351a0f95b3913ee87eb9e58fa84df76f5e20caa.jpg
Mmmmm….are these bats?
Rotten wood.
Taiwan thinks this is very effective to sink Chinese landing ship.
Chinese ship thinks the same like Taiwan, it just refuse to go there.
China can take piss on US as well and they might do it soon, Oct 18 is coming…. China can sell some weapons to Iran to piss United Zion.
It is still funny remembering how Fat ugly Pompeo saying Iran wouldn’t be able to buy “any” weapon/s from other countries LMFAO. So far we know Russia is okay to sell S-400s and US failed so bad that now they are trying to please Wahhabi States by selling them F-35s LOL, Zion morons.
Kind of unusual for a man to be upset on fat and uglyness of another man, not gay at. Or it’s a new directive from the cute little dool princess from Kremlin.
“Kind of unusual for a man to be upset on fat and uglyness of another man, not gay at” OOF you sound like those weebs dude…fuk.
BTW DiD yOu AsSuMe My GeNdEr, unhealthy people are….looks shit and they got so much “oil”in their heads. :/ Also what have he done…..beside being a fat pig that grow in Zion farms. I like Trump but the people around him….some other people pick for him, let say.
“Also what have he done…..beside being a fat pig that grow in Zion farms.” that’s a question for you. Why does pig man bothers potato man? I call vegan.
“that’s a question for you.” Let me put it this way, a fuking useless shit that never done any good but harm. Fat pig causing problems and bullying others and helping useless people alike him to harm civilians. From backing Wahhabis and breaking friendships with others (US didn’t had any good friends but now they look and sound like a morons alone beside the weak that are under fat pigs.)
Now why are you bothered? I don’t really care about that pig but people like him are the ones to fuk things up. Why are you so protective to towards “fat pigs”? I call you are part of PETA.
“I call vegan” No, but I do only eat white meat (chicken/fish/etc)…BTW people do live longer as a vegan but a sad life that is, without chicken :/
Please don’t cry, little girl. Here is a lollipop for ya :)
hmmmm……deja vu I came this road with you before not gonna go again bud. Didn’t know you also run out of thing to saying when s….nvm it is boring. The whole thing was about fat pig. I take the lollipop tho :) I’m not worry about getting fat, like some ;) I like going to gym “some people” also should. ?
China is selling weapons to Iran. And they will sell much more starting 18th of October.
Same for Russia. The games are over. The gloves have come off.
If the gloves truly have come off then Venezuela and Bolivia would be flooded with Chinese weapons.
Get $192 of an hour from Google!… Yes this is true as I just got my first payout that was awesome since it was biggest amount of $38451 in a week…qt62…It seems un-believable but you won’t forgive yourself if you do not check it(Go to “Home” Option within it to get details):>:>:>:> http://www.beast4.com/google/get/$192/hour… ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★:::::
Thats all cute but in case of a real Chinese invasion that will be a drop in the sea. Chinese Navy is already bigger than that of the U.S. And they are building 200 ships at the moment. You read that right. How many is the U.S. building? 10?
quality vs quantity
Newest Chinese battle cruisers are superior to the latest block of the Arleigh Burke class. Aside from that look at WWII. Germans had technological superiority yet they still lost. Quantity overpowered them.
We did see it in Saudi Arabia, when the Houthis shelled deep inside the country. The “high tech” patriot batteries were napping.
Taiwan is a soverign country and has a right to defend itself. to say Tiawan belongs to china is akin to saying a rapist should be a womans husband. the Tiawanese people have the right to self determination and sovereignty, especially the native people.
So if lets say Texas would try to secede from the U.S. the federal govt would let it happen? I somehow doubt that…
texas is a state within the continental united states tiawan is a sovereign country with its own land mass, system of government armed forces and ideology. try again jew
Oy gevalt… It was oart of Mainland China till tge U.S. occupied it at the end of WWII, taking it from Japan. Ok swap Texas with Hawaii. Same question nazi…?
you do not even know history do you? it was portugese until 1700s then japanese and only briefly chinese
It was skways Chinese, same as Hong Kong. Its ethnic Chinese with Chinese culture. Occupation doesnt count.
your wrong it was not always chinese, the han chinese started migrating there in the 1800s fool
Like Brits to North America? You dont say…
brits? no.. north america has all races, all mixed and interbred. it is like a shit sandwich
Or could Commifornia secede?
who cares
Taiwan is as part of China as Kosovo is part of Serbia or Crimea is part of Russia. Yeah people have been brainwashed to hate China, same as Kievnazis (Russians in denial) have been brainwashed to hate Russia.
i am not brainwashed it is the chinese masses that are brainwashed. and they eat cats, dogs, bats, civets etc they are dirty little people
So you are a racist too!!!
I dont see them as dirty, they are pretty clean in my opinion. Yes they shouldnt eat pets, same as Koreans shouldnt, or Italians. Or Scandinavians shouldnt eat dolphins. Or Americans shouldnt put the kidney cells of aborted babies into soft drinks as a flavour enhancer. I agree.
italians do not eat domestic animals and scandinavians do not eat dolphins, this is just wishful thinking to make yourself feel better about your degenerate culture
Im not Chinese sorry to dissapoint you
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/whale-and-dolphin-hunts-in-faroe-islands-photographed-by-campaigners-2017-11%3famp
https://www.worlddogalliance.org/an-italian-chamber-of-house-introduced-a-bill-to-ban-of-dog-and-cat-meat-consumption-in-italy/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/7250062/Cat-meat-menu-unleashes-Italian-outrage.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italian-man-accused-adopting-black-cats-eat-them-9091349.html
https://www.dolphinproject.com/blog/is-norway-creating-their-own-killing-cove/
At least Crimea was officially Ukraine. But Taiwan’s independence hasn’t been recognized by anyone of some relevance ( EU, USA, Canada, Russia, China ). It is legally part of China and that is it.
Crimea was only part of Ukraine under the USSR. A Ukrainian born Supreme Soviet took administrative control of Crimea away from Russia under the then Communist system and Union of Eastern European Communist states. (i.e Soviet Union) That union and system ended in 1989 – 90.
I agree. It was only a comparison, just to say that if Crimea has the right to be in Russia, Taiwan is totally, completely, legally chinese territory.
Clueless and irrelevant.. Texas was a nation before it was annexed by the US and whether it was part of the continent has no bearing.
Don’t forget California. They’ve actually took legal steps towards succession. But, you’re correct. I can’t see Washington letting go Cali or Texas.
hahaha fat American sell broken weapon to small bitch Taiwan, no good, China must sell to Iran hahahha fat American will die soon.
so what? who cares about americans? the americans made their own mess by bending to the will of the camel rapers and foreskin chewers
Ehm, what are you saying? Taiwan is an unrecognized republic. All the of countries of the UNSC don’t recognize it. Same with Canada and the EU.
So Taiwan is just a province of China. And China has every right to suppress the taiwanese separatist government and annex Taiwan.
Who agrees Taiwan is a country. Or who recognizes Karabakh is a country? Even US does not recognized Taiwan. And Armenia does not recognize Karabakh. Do not look a dumb fool….
Taiwan is a huge liability to USA. US is playing game, just like Russia is playing game with Armenia. Russia will never scratch its skin to defend Armenia. Or US wants to shed own blood to save Taiwan. It is not worth it.
Otherwise Taiwan would have declared independence 30 or 40 years ago. But it does not have any support from USA. It has been warned so many times not to change status quo.
Whatever weapons Taiwan buys do little to change the military balance. Pompeo has been pushing all Pacific countries, like Japan, Australia, South Krea, Taiwan and India to increase their defense spending. So US companies can sell more weapons to those countries and benefits from the local tensions. This is also the same thing Russia did with both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
us recognized tiawan until 1979 and then regonized china for financial reasons but the us/jew state is finished it allowed itself to be eaten from the inside out by parasites and is worthless like you
*Geopolitical not financial reasons. Remember the Soviet Union? Kissinger took advantage of the Sino-Soviet split. This time Beijing and Moscow will not be making the same mistake.
Chinese rat military weak Uncle Sam military stronk.Uncle Sam wins
Filthy India monkey man still shit in street like angry monkey hahahhaha
Shia monkeys still self bleeding.Israel stronk Shia rats lose
Why should a shia muslim attack you for writing an anti-US comment?
Even Indian monkeys are dying on the streets….
Like Paki assholes in Balochistan and waziristan.Enjoy your dirty Pakistan is going to get destroyed soon
Win what? Such brain dead.
Very good decision, Chinese (bastards) will cry and rage. Israel should arm Taiwan too.
You just brain restard.
Israel never wants to provoke China. If China sells some Wing Loong II drones to Iran, we’ll see what Israel can do if Iran ship some of those drones to Syria. China can also sell Iran some air planes they designed together with Pakistan.
China is already working with Iran, it doesn’t make any difference. Selling more drones won’t change anything.
That would be very good. Chinese sick f…s putting innocent Uygur Turkics into concentration camps just like in ww-2 and genociding them.
Look on the bright side; China can always assist Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela and there are quite a few Caribbean countries that would welcome financial and military aid.
But they wont.
The Chinese were in Venezuela fixing infrastructure after their electrical grid went offline. There were pictures of the Chinese military with Venezuela’s Defense Minister a few years back. I don’t know if they’re still there or not.
Only because it serves their future, and current , oil needs. Why doesn’t China load up Venezuela with air defense and other weapons ? They have the money to ” donate ” those without a problem.
I suspect it may have to do with their push for the return of Spheres of Influence (i.e. multipolar world). They probably thought if they respect the Monroe Doctrine then Washington would do the same for them as well. LOL Stupid fools.
We’ll see how pissed off they get once this deal is completed. Aside from cheaper fighters, I can’t see Venezuela wanting Chinese AD systems when they are already using Russian ones. I suppose they can gift them some naval vessels and ground equipment (i.e. MRAP’s, IFV, etc…).
In any case, I don’t expect any major moves from Beijing until after November 3rd.
” I can’t see Venezuela wanting Chinese AD systems when they are already using Russian ones. ”
The more the merrier.
” In any case, I don’t expect any major moves from Beijing until after November 3rd. ”
I keep hearing that from people, but I strongly doubt it will make a difference. The presidential candidates are just the left and right hand of the puppet master and these plans have been laid out long ago. The timing of execution might be altered but not the final goals. Besides, I dont trust the Chinese leadership, just like I dont trust Putin’s actions. There are darker motives at work then the struggle for oil or monetary supremacy.
It may be better to have more but there’s the issue of the integration, supply and training. I don’t believe Venezuela can afford to have that many disparate systems.
Beijing’s moves aren’t based on altruism as no such thing ever existed in politics, let alone geopolitics.
” Beijing’s moves aren’t based on altruism as no such thing ever existed in politics, let alone geopolitics. ”
Then it will be taken down like all the others. This is a war of morality and justice.
“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
― Benjamin Franklin
Given the total failure in their own home, the ISISraeli colony of North America tries to hide from its own people by breaking the balls of anyone who is even remotely a valid commercial competitor, and they also have the ass face to call it free competition.
Is Taiwan (Chinese-Taipei) inviting PLA-China to disarm them?
China wont do squat. Just watch.
Yes… I will definitely be watching. Taiwanese military air and naval bases initially. Keep them on your radar.
I’m leaning towards that as well. IF anything is done, it’ll be covert. A mysterious fire or explosion at a depot.
China does not really want to confront US now. So it has basically stayed out of most of the conflicts over the world. They just build up the capability and grow its economy.
But clearly its military strength has been on the rise. Even with a defense budget of $200 billions vs US’ $700 billions, China’s spending is more effective. Most of US defense budget has been used on some private defense contractors based on political connections. A lot has been spent on numerous overseas military bases. This is why Trump wants to reduce US military presence over the world and close down some military bases. But his generals won’t allow him.
In the future, the gap between China and US military strength will continue to narrow. Since China is more focused on Indo-Pacific where US is spread all over the world, China could be stronger than US in Indo-Pacific region. This is why Pompeo is drumming up the “Quad” group. China just does not care.
Any sane person would want to avoid confrontation. However, I don’t believe the Chinese can stay out of conflict for long now. What China has going right now is that Pompeo efforts for a “Quad” group has failed.
Believe it or not, a significant portion of the Pentagon’s budget is also towards entitlements. These private defense contractors will be the death of the US.