Taiwan Getting 40 New Paladin Howitzers from the USA
The State Department announced on August 4 that it had approved the sale of forty M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer systems to Taiwan, along with kits to convert up to 1,698 155-millimeter artillery shells into precision-guided weapons. There was other equipment bundled into the authorization. For example, Taiwan will receive twenty M992A2 ammunition transport vehicles, five M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicles, and an Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System.
The deal, worth up to $750 million, still requires but is almost certain to receive congressional approval, followed by negotiations between Taipei and the primary defense contractor BAE Systems. The Paladins—which resemble tanks, but are in reality only lightly armored and designed for long-distance indirect fire—would be the first U.S. gun artillery approved for sale to Taiwan in over twenty years, following 146 older M109A5 howitzers delivered in the late 1990s.
More from the National Interest (25 Dec 2021) here