Taiwan Deploys 400 Locally-made Anti-Tank Missiles to Deter Chinese Invasion

Taiwan has deployed some 400 locally-made "Kestrel" anti-tank missiles around key government installations to deter China’s People’s Liberation Army, the Military Police Command said in its annual budget report submitted to the Legislative Yuan yesterday.

The Kestrel missile launcher is a disposable, shoulder-launched, single-shot system that can fire a high-explosive anti-tank warhead or a high-explosive squash head, Taipei Times reported.

The Military Police deployed the first of them in the capital in October as part of a two-year program first announced last year. It has so far procured 397 missiles, 238 test missiles and five training simulators from the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the command said.

The military has formed the Quick-Reaction Company at the 202nd Military Police Regional Command and garrisoned additional forces in the city, which would allow it to respond quickly in the event of a threat to the central government, the command said.

The missile systems cost NT$43.03 million (US$1.41 million), it said, adding that next year the command plans to purchase 48 more missiles, 40 test missiles and three training simulators, which would cost of NT$5.97 million.

With the lightweight launchers, which could be deployed in high-rises or transported in vehicles, military police can launch mobile counterattacks in urban combat and retake crucial governmental structures, it said.

Its decision to purchase the missile systems was made after carefully considering the “threat posed by the enemy,” the command said.