Taiwan receives FIM-92 Stinger man-portable air defence systems to assist Patriot and Sky Bow

Taiwan has awaited deliveries of the FIM-92 Stinger man-portable air defence systems. They recently arrived in the country on a Boeing 747.

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The Taiwanese army has domestic Sky Bow (pictured below), aka Tien Kung, and US Patriot interceptors. They are designed to intercept ballistic missiles, while the island nation also needs a means to counter low-flying threats.

The FIM-91 Stinger solves this problem. The new batch of surface-to-air missiles was part of a $500 million military aid package. Taiwan should have received the weapons years ago, but deliveries were delayed first by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted the supply chain, and then by Russia's attack on Ukraine.

At the moment, Taiwan is using different versions of the Stinger. For example, the Dual Mount Stinger (DMS) or the Avenger system for mounting on Humvee armoured vehicles. The military has also adapted the launcher to be mounted on Apache attack helicopters.

The U.S. authorized the transfer of the FIM-92 Stinger man-portable air defence systems in 1996. However, deliveries ceased in 2000 because of concerns that the weapons had offensive capabilities.

Source: Taipei Times