The weapons that have proven effective in destroying Russian tanks and command posts in Ukraine form the heart of the $11.1 billion arms package the U.S. government approved for sale to Taiwan this week.
The deal marks a shift toward weapons systems specifically aimed at thwarting a Chinese landing on Taiwan’s shores, rather than large equipment such as F-16 fighter jets and warships that Taipei preferred to acquire in previous years, analysts say.
On Wednesday, the US State Department announced that it had approved eight arms sales agreements for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (Tecro), the de facto embassy.
They include 82 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars) and 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), worth $4.05 billion; 60 self-propelled howitzers and 60 armored ammunition transport vehicles, worth $4.03 billion; 1,050 Javelin missiles and related equipment, valued at US$375 million, and 1,545 Tow missiles (tube-launched, optically tracked and wire-guided missiles), valued at US$353 million.
Also on the sales list was Anduril’s Altius-700M system, consisting of long-range attack munitions and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) described as kamikaze drones, valued at $1.1 billion.
“This package contains weapons that will make it difficult to execute and maintain a Chinese presence in Taiwan,” said retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank.
“Drones will help both prevent the landing of Chinese forces and carry out maneuvers on land,” he added. Ground-based systems, whether long-range precision-guided missiles such as ATACMS and Himars, or short-range systems such as Howitzers, Javelin and Tow, “will put Chinese forces at risk.”
The more counter-intervention munitions Taiwan can deploy, the greater the risk to Chinese ground forces, Montgomery continued.
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, chairman of the United States-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC), said Himars and howitzers could play a critical role in destroying ships and landing craft that attempt to land Chinese forces off the coast of Taiwan, as well as any forces that have successfully established a beachhead.
“This set of notifications – a record number of simultaneous notifications on U.S. security assistance to Taiwan – is a response to the threat from China and reflects President Trump’s demand that partners and allies do more to ensure their own defense,” he said.
“We continue to see a prioritization of platforms and munitions intended for a D-Day-like attack on the island.” Hammond-Chambers noted that none of the new weapons address gray zones, blockades or quarantines – which Taiwan previously sought to address – but rather aim to prevent a landing.
A US government source pointed out that there are two main reasons for Taiwan’s change in priorities. One of them was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022, and the subsequent Chinese missile launches. The second was Ukraine’s success and failure in repelling the Russian invasion.
While Taiwan previously sought to acquire expensive platforms such as fighter jets and warships to reassure the Taiwanese population and send a symbolic message to Beijing, the recent direction is much more pragmatic, the source said.
This is the second arms sale to Taiwan since President Donald Trump’s second term, but on a much larger scale. In November, the sale of spare and repair parts for Taiwanese-made F-16 fighters, C-130 transport planes and fighter jets was approved, worth $330 million.
China, in turn, has filed “severe protests” — a phrase it sometimes uses to express displeasure with a foreign country’s actions — with the United States, its Defense Ministry said Friday. The ministry also said Washington was committed not to support “Taiwan independence forces” and called on its hegemonic rival to immediately stop its arms sales to Taiwan. The ministry added that the United States “will certainly face consequences” if it continues to break its word regarding Taiwan’s independence.
Jie Gao, a research associate at the China Analysis Center of the Asia Society Policy Institute, noted that the timing of the announcement was interesting. The proposed arms sale comes at a time “when trade negotiations between the United States and China have reached a more stable stage,” she said.
“Beijing will certainly protest, but arms sales will not force it to abandon the trade agreements reached by both sides.”
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