US clears sale of AIM-9X and AGM-84 missiles to Taiwan.

On September 2, the US State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States of AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder Missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $85.6 million. The same day, the State department also approved the possible foreign military sale for  GM-84L-1 Harpoon Block II Missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $355 million.

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  AIM-9X Sidewinder (Picture source: NAVAIR)

· The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) has requested to buy one hundred (100) AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder tactical missiles and four (4) AIM-9X Block II tactical Guidance Units. Also included are containers; spare and repair parts; support and test equipment; publications and technical documentation; personnel training and training equipment; U.S. Government and contractor representatives’ technical assistance; engineering and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated total cost is $85.6 million

The Air Intercept Missile (AIM)-9X Sidewinder is the latest of the Sidewinder family of short-range air-to-air missiles. It features a high off-boresight focal-plane array seeker mounted on a highly maneuverable airframe with a greatly improved infrared counter-countermeasures feature. The AIM-9X incorporates many AIM-9M legacy components (rocket motor, warhead and active optical target detector), but its performance far exceeds the legacy Sidewinder. Unlike previous AIM-9 models, the AIM-9X can even be used against targets on the ground.

A Harpoon missile is launched from the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Shiloh during a live-fire exercise in 2014 (Picture source: US Navy)

· The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) has requested to buy sixty (60) AGM-84L-1 Harpoon Block II missiles and four (4) ATM-84L-1 Harpoon Block II exercise missiles. Also included are Harpoon Guidance Control Units (GCUs); Harpoon Radar Seekers; Harpoon Radar Altimeters; Harpoon Captive Air Test Missiles (CATMs); containers; spare and repair parts; support and test equipment; publications and technical documentation; personnel training and training equipment; U.S. Government and contractor representatives’ technical assistance; engineering and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated total cost is $355 million. This proposed sale serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to maintain a credible defensive capability.

The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system, developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security). In 2004, Boeing delivered the 7,000th Harpoon unit since the weapon's introduction in 1977. The missile system has also been further developed into a land-strike weapon, the Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM).

The regular Harpoon uses active radar homing, and a low-level, sea-skimming cruise trajectory to improve survivability and lethality