Taiwan’s Ballistic-Missile Deterrence and Defense Capabilities

Taiwan’s Ballistic-Missile Deterrence and Defense Capabilities

Publication: China Brief Volume: 11 Issue: 3

February 10, 2011 05:44 PM Age: 1 hrs

By: Ed Ross

Patriot Missiles

Even as the Obama administration appears to be holding back on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, seeking to build better relations with Beijing, and while cross-strait relations continue to improve, Taiwan is moving slowly toward the acquisition of a credible missile-defense capability to deter and defend against a People’s Republic of China (PRC) ballistic-missile attack. To be sure, Taiwan will not have all the critical elements in place for a few more years, but major U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Taiwan necessary for a missile-defense system have been approved by Congress, the Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs) have been implemented [1], and contracts with U.S. defense industries have been signed or soon will be. All that is required, once Taiwan’s recent purchases have been delivered, for it to complete the system is full integration of Taiwan’s Patriot missile firing batteries with its early warning and command and control systems.