Taiwan Pushes for Faster NASAMS Delivery to Bolster Air Defense Against China

Amid escalating military pressure from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan is pressing the United States for an accelerated delivery schedule of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS). The urgency reflects Taipei’s concern over persistent vulnerabilities in its medium-range air defense coverage and its broader efforts to modernize and layer its Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) architecture.

Strategic Context: Why NASAMS Matters for Taiwan

The Republic of China (ROC) faces an increasingly complex threat environment. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has intensified aerial incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), with near-daily sorties involving fighters, bombers, UAVs, and surveillance platforms. These activities are part of Beijing’s grey-zone tactics designed to exhaust Taiwanese readiness and normalize coercive presence.

In response, Taiwan has prioritized strengthening its IAMD posture. While it operates long-range Patriot PAC-3 systems and indigenous Sky Bow batteries for high-altitude interception, there remains a critical gap in medium-range coverage—especially against cruise missiles, UAVs, and low-flying aircraft. NASAMS fills this niche with its flexible deployment profile and networked sensor architecture.

NASAMS Capabilities and Role in Layered Defense

Jointly developed by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Raytheon Technologies (RTX), NASAMS is a highly modular SHORAD/MRAD system capable of engaging a wide array of aerial threats. It typically employs AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles—already in service with Taiwan’s F-16 fleet—providing logistical commonality. The system can also integrate AIM-9X or IRIS-T missiles depending on configuration.

Range: Up to ~25 km with AMRAAM; extended with AMRAAM-ER (~40 km)
Altitude: Effective up to ~15 km
Sensors: Supports multiple radar types including AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel or third-party AESA/Giraffe radars
C2 Architecture: Open architecture allows integration with NATO-standard Link-16 networks

This flexibility makes NASAMS ideal for urban or distributed defense scenarios—particularly around critical infrastructure such as command centers, air bases, ports, or government facilities.

Status of Taiwan’s NASAMS Procurement Program

Taiwan formally requested the sale of NASAMS components through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program in December 2021. The U.S. State Department approved the $280 million package in August 2022. According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the deal includes launchers, fire distribution centers (FDCs), radar units—likely MPQ-64A3 Sentinels—and associated support equipment.

The original delivery timeline projected initial systems arriving by late 2025 or early 2026—a pace now deemed insufficient given heightened cross-Strait tensions following events such as then-Speaker Pelosi’s visit in August 2022 and subsequent PLA live-fire drills encircling Taiwan.

Taipei Seeks Fast-Track Delivery via FMF or Reprioritization

Taiwanese defense officials are reportedly lobbying Washington for expedited delivery under several possible mechanisms:

Foreign Military Financing (FMF): Leveraging U.S.-funded security assistance under recent Indo-Pacific allocations passed by Congress in FY2023–24.
Diversion from U.S./Allied Stocks: Similar to Ukraine aid models where systems are pulled from existing inventories rather than waiting on new production lines.
Production Prioritization: Requesting that RTX/Kongsberg prioritize Taiwanese orders ahead of less urgent customers within the global queue.

No formal agreement has yet been announced on acceleration terms as of October 2025; however, discussions are reportedly ongoing between Taipei’s Ministry of National Defense (MND), AIT representatives in Taipei, and U.S. DoD counterparts.

NATO-Proven System Now Pivoting Toward Indo-Pacific Relevance

The combat-proven performance of NASAMS during recent conflicts—most notably its deployment across Europe in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—has bolstered confidence among Indo-Pacific partners seeking agile air defense solutions without requiring large radar signatures or fixed infrastructure footprints.

Lithuania delivered two complete batteries to Ukraine under a Norwegian-led initiative; Ukrainian forces have since credited them with intercepting cruise missiles and Shahed-type UAVs over urban areas like Kyiv. This operational track record enhances NASAMS’ credibility as a counter-UAV/counter-missile solution adaptable to Taiwan’s mountainous terrain and dense urban zones.

A Broader IAMD Vision: Integrating Patriots, Sky Bow & Future Systems

Taiwan aims not just for piecemeal acquisitions but for a coherent multi-layered IAMD grid integrating sensors and shooters across altitude bands:

High-altitude: Patriot PAC-3 MSE batteries; Sky Bow III interceptors
Medium-range: Incoming NASAMS batteries; potential future IRIS-T SLM consideration
C-UAS/SHORAD: Indigenous TC-2-based mobile launchers; laser/C-UAS R&D underway via NCSIST
C4ISR Backbone: Integration via Link-16 datalink upgrades on F-16Vs; indigenous command nodes under development by Chungshan Institute

The Industrial Challenge: Production Bottlenecks & Global Demand Surge

Kongsberg/Raytheon face significant production strain amid surging global demand post-Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine. Orders from Lithuania, Hungary, Qatar—and now Australia—all compete for limited production slots at RTX missile plants in Arizona and Kongsberg facilities in Norway.

This bottleneck complicates any fast-track ambitions unless political intervention enables diversion from existing contracts or increased funding accelerates capacity expansion—a scenario that would require both Congressional support and OEM ramp-up capability within months rather than years.