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U.S. Clears $375 Million Javelin Missile Sale to Strengthen Taiwan’s Anti-Armor Defenses.
The U.S. State Department has cleared a potential 375 million dollar Foreign Military Sale of Javelin anti-tank missile systems to Taiwan, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The deal reinforces Taiwan’s ability to blunt an amphibious or armored assault as cross-Strait tensions continue to rise.
On December 17, 2025, the US State Department cleared a potential Foreign Military Sale of Javelin anti-tank missile systems worth an estimated 375 million dollars to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), as reported by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). The case covers 1,050 FGM-148F missiles, 10 “fly-to-buy” acceptance rounds and 70 Lightweight Command Launch Units (LwCLU), making it one of Taiwan’s most substantial single anti-armor acquisitions. Framed under Public Law 96-8, the Taiwan Relations Act, the sale is presented as supporting a credible defensive capability without changing the basic military balance. For Taiwan, it fits into a wider multibillion-dollar package designed to harden the island against mounting pressure from the People’s Liberation Army.
The U.S. has cleared a 375 million dollar sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Taiwan, strengthening the island’s anti-armor deterrence as cross-Strait military pressure continues to grow (Picture Source: U.S. Army)
The package features the advanced FGM-148F Javelin, a third-generation, man-portable anti-tank guided missile equipped with an imaging infrared seeker, fire-and-forget guidance, and selectable top-attack or direct-attack modes. The F-model’s multi-purpose warhead is designed to defeat modern main battle tanks fitted with reactive armor, as well as lighter armored vehicles, fortifications, and personnel targets at ranges of several kilometers when used with the Lightweight Command Launch Unit (LwCLU). The LwCLU is smaller and lighter than its predecessor and incorporates an enhanced thermal sensor, high-definition display, and integrated far-target locator, transforming each launcher into an effective day and night reconnaissance and target acquisition system. The inclusion of simulators, training rounds, technical documentation, and logistical support indicates that Taiwan intends to adopt the Javelin as a fully integrated, long-term capability rather than a short-term acquisition.
Operationally, Javelin is a mature system first fielded by US forces in the mid-1990s and employed extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan before gaining global visibility in Ukraine. Thousands of combat firings and a large installed base have driven continuous upgrades to the missile, launcher and training infrastructure. Taiwan has already operated Javelin for years, with earlier US packages providing missiles and launchers that complemented other anti-armor systems such as TOW. The new notification therefore builds on existing training and doctrine, but scales the inventory to a level more commensurate with a high-intensity contingency in the Taiwan Strait.
In capability terms, Javelin gives Taiwan important advantages over legacy wire-guided systems and many short-range shoulder-fired weapons. Fire-and-forget guidance allows crews to displace immediately after launch, reducing exposure compared with systems that require continuous line-of-sight guidance. The top-attack profile is well-suited to engaging amphibious and armored formations that would be forced into predictable corridors along likely landing beaches and coastal plains. Compared with domestic short-range rockets like the Kestrel, Javelin operates at longer ranges and against heavier armor, filling a critical gap and integrating into a broader ecosystem of anti-armor assets that includes TOW, Hellfire and other guided munitions.
The notified sale supports Taipei’s shift toward an “asymmetric” defense concept built around denying an attacker freedom of movement rather than mirroring its force structure. Dispersed Javelin teams in urban areas, on high ground and along chokepoints could complicate any People’s Liberation Army advance, forcing additional resources into engineering, reconnaissance and close air support. At the regional level, the case sits alongside other US approvals for Taiwan announced the same day and is part of an arms pipeline that Washington presents as essential to preserving political stability and economic confidence in the Indo-Pacific. It also signals to other partners that, despite competing demands from other theaters, the US is prepared to maintain a sustained flow of high-end munitions to frontline actors facing large conventional adversaries.
The Javelin case is a mid-sized but notable element in Taiwan’s expanding defense budget. The DSCA estimate of up to 375 million dollars represents the upper bound, with the final value depending on detailed configuration, budget decisions in Taipei and the terms of the eventual sales agreement. A rough division of case value by the number of missiles and launchers suggests a unit cost in line with recent Javelin foreign sales, where training, spares and long-term support represent a significant share of the bill. Principal contractors will be selected through competitive US government procurement, and while no specific offset arrangements are mentioned at this stage, production is expected to draw on the established industrial base that already supplies Javelin to US forces and multiple allies.
For Taiwan, this Javelin package is less about adding a new name to its inventory than about expanding and modernizing a proven anti-armor pillar so it can shape the opening phase of any major conflict around the island. By combining the latest FGM-148F missiles, upgraded launch units and a full training and sustainment framework, the sale strengthens the human, technical and logistical foundations of Taiwan’s land defense. It also underscores how US foreign military sales are being used to scale up munitions-heavy capabilities among partners exposed to high-end conventional threats, turning systems like Javelin into key tools for deterring and, if necessary, degrading armored offensives in an era of renewed great-power competition.