A proposal by the US authorities to increase a contract for an early warning facility in Hsinchu County goals to make sure that the system performs nicely, a army supply mentioned.
The proposal includes Leshan Radar Station in Wufeng Township (五峰), the supply mentioned, however declined to touch upon whether or not the bundle would contain upgrades to the system.
The US$655.4 million extension is a part of a deliberate US$1.1 billion arms sale bundle to Taiwan, which additionally consists of 60 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles for US$355 million and 100 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder missiles at a value of NT$85.6 million, the Pentagon’s Protection Safety Cooperation Company mentioned on Friday.
The US Division of State has authorized the proposed arms sale and forwarded it to the US Congress for evaluate, the cooperation company mentioned.
The Leshan radar proved efficient when it detected 11 Dongfeng ballistic missiles that China fired into waters round Taiwan through the army workouts it carried out early final month, Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang College’s Graduate Institute of Worldwide Affairs and Strategic Research, mentioned on Saturday.
It’s price watching whether or not the contract extension will contain upgrades, Lin mentioned.
Doable upgrades embody boosting the system’s vary, rising its processing velocity, elevating the variety of targets it could possibly concurrently monitor and linking it to programs utilized by native or international army models, thereby shortening its response time and boosting its accuracy, he mentioned.
The Leshan station sits at an altitude of two,620m and might detect missiles fired inside a spread of 5,000km. It will probably additionally monitor cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, drones and ships inside a 2,000km vary.
The station employs an AN/FPS-115 Pave Paws system, which, due to the power’s altitude, has a protracted vary and early warning capabilities, mentioned Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), an analyst on the Institute for Nationwide Protection and Safety Analysis.
Contemplating the time that the system has been in use, the contract extension may entail the renewal of transceivers and software program upkeep, he mentioned.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), a analysis fellow on the Affiliation of Strategic Foresight, mentioned the proposed extension may appear costly, however with the Leshan system turning 10 subsequent 12 months, a mid-life improve or the procurement of alternative elements is so as.
Whereas the proposed arms sale doesn’t embody new weapons, it might slender the hole between Taiwan and China relating to the variety of precision-strike missiles, bolstering the nation’s protection capabilities, he mentioned.
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