Reinforcing a threatened ally, the Biden Administration announced it will sell 400 land-based Harpoon anti-ship missiles to Taiwan to help defend the island from a potential Chinese invasion, Bloomberg reports. The Pentagon had announced the contract, valued at around $1.2 billion, on April 7th but the statement did not identify the buyer.
The Chinese Navy has around 340 surface ships and submarines, including two operational aircraft carriers and more than 120 major surface combat ships. So should China’s fleet be committed to an invasion, Taiwan will have just 60 Harpoon missiles.