April 17, 2023 | The Dispatch

Taiwan Needs Our Help Now

A missile contract that won’t be fulfilled until 2029 demonstrates that our foreign military sales program is unacceptably slow.
April 17, 2023 | The Dispatch

Taiwan Needs Our Help Now

A missile contract that won’t be fulfilled until 2029 demonstrates that our foreign military sales program is unacceptably slow.

Excerpt

The Department of Defense announced on April 7 that the Navy had awarded a procurement contract for 400 Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles for Taiwan. On its face, the announcement is certainly welcome news. The missiles will accompany the new Harpoon Coastal Defense System (HCDS), which can play a potentially pivotal role in helping Taiwan deter aggression from Beijing, namely an amphibious assault or maritime blockade.

What the announcement actually reveals, though, is that the U.S. foreign military sales program is far too slow and in dire need of reform.

Bradley Bowman serves as senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the senior director of its Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation. Follow Brad and Mark on Twitter @Brad_L_Bowman and @MarkCMontgomery. FDD is a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Issues:

China Indo-Pacific Military and Political Power U.S. Defense Policy and Strategy