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Does Taiwan risk being Russian ‘revenge target’ if retired missiles are sent to Ukraine?
- US may buy Taiwan’s decommissioned Hawk air defence missiles as part of a Ukrainian military aid package, report says
- US could repurchase weapons at ‘extremely low cost’, while the island would save time and money on disposal, expert says
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Lawrence Chungin Taipei
A reported plan by the United States to repurchase hundreds of Hawk air defence missiles from Taiwan so they could be sent to Ukraine’s military has raised concerns over whether such a move would result in Russian retaliation against the island.
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Taiwan’s military officially retired the medium-range anti-aircraft MIM-23 Phase III Hawk missiles made by US arms builder Raytheon Technologies on June 29.
Over the weekend, Taiwan news reports said the US was interested in buying back the weapons, which first went into service on the island in 1960. Between 1965 and 2017, Hawk missiles had been deployed in 41 combat exercises by the island’s air force.
“There have been reports that the United States has intended to repurchase the Hawk missiles decommissioned in Taiwan last month and provide them to Ukraine,” as part of the American military aid package, the semi-official Central News Agency said on Saturday.
The government-funded Public Television Service in Taipei said if the repurchase plan was confirmed, and the appropriate launch systems were acquired, Ukraine would be able to use the weapons, assuming they were still in good condition.
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