《TAIPEI TIMES》Army to hold missile firing drills next week: source

The army’s Avenger missile system fires a Stinger in an undated photograph. Photo: Screen grab from the Republic of China Army’s Facebook page

BOLSTERING DEFENSE: Taiwan has procured 2,621 Stinger MANPADS, 5,000 of which are expected to be delivered late this year, while the remainder are still being negotiated

By Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The army is to hold live-fire drills next week using all four Stinger missile variants for the first time, an official said yesterday.

The Shen Kung （神弓） and Shen Yin （神鷹） missile precision firing exercises are to be conducted on the coast and in waters near Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township （滿州）, a defense official familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

The exercises would deploy Stinger Man-Portable Air Defense Systems （MANPADS）, the dual-mount Stinger system, the AN/TWQ-1 Avenger Air Defense System and helicopter-launched Stinger missiles, they said.

The Stinger is a short-range air defense weapon with a range of 4.8km and a top speed of Mach 2.5, or two-and-a-half times the speed of sound.

Taiwan has procured 2,621 Stinger MANPADS to be delivered in two phases, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo （顧立雄） told lawmakers in a hearing, adding that the first 5,000 systems are expected late this year.

The delivery date for the remainder of the order was still being negotiated as of the time of the comment.

The US also delivered an unknown number of single-operator Stinger systems as part of a defense aid package to Taiwan, some of which have been fielded in military police units tasked with defending the greater Taipei area, the anonymous defense official said.

Military police were seen wielding Stinger MANPADS near Taipei MRT stations and Wanban Bridge （萬板大橋） in last year’s annual Han Kuang military exercises.

The army currently uses the dual-mount Stinger system, which utilizes a tripod, the Humvee-mounted Avenger system, and the air-to-air version of the missile mounted on Apache helicopter gunships, the official said.

The Ministry of National Defense has proposed buying more Stinger missiles through a NT$110 million （US$3.45 million） allocation in this fiscal year’s budget, they said.

The procurement is focused on increasing the stockpile of Stinger missiles for use in the Avenger systems and dual-mount systems in a high-intensity conflict, the official said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES