Pentagon Urged to Provide Taiwan with ‘MacGyver’ Style Advanced Weapons Amid Chinese Threats

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The head of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Party warned the Pentagon in a letter about the necessity of establishing a more robust deterrent to avert war.  He emphasized the importance of innovative, “out of the box” strategies in arming the Taiwanese military to address the imminent threats posed by the Chinese government to the island.

Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI), heading the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, proposing innovative measures to counteract Xi Jinping’s unprecedented military expansion and the looming threats it poses to Taiwan.

In his letter, Gallager warned Hicks saying the United States is faced with the task of constructing a new type of armament – an arsenal focused on deterrence. He warned how Chinese President Xi Jinping has directed the Chinese military to prepare for a potential invasion of Taiwan by 2027.

Gallager warned that the best way to conflict is to swiftly develop a deterrence arsenal that equips both Taiwan and U.S. forces, enabling them to succeed in any confrontation in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Recent war games simulating a conflict with China over Taiwan show that the United States would run out of long-range, precision-guided munitions in less than one week,” Gallager said in his letter to Hicks.

“Today’s challenges must force us to adapt and think outside the box. If delays are preventing vital weapons from being delivered to Taiwan, we must be creative in putting together capabilities – using weapons and assets already in our inventory – that we can promptly deliver to Taiwan,” Gallager continued.

“If cost and production times are limiting our supplies of long-range [precision guided missiles], we must look at cheaper alternatives that can be produced quickly, which can complement the more expensive missiles. Two innovative ideas – the ‘MacGyver’ Harpoons and Powered JDAMs [Joint Direct Attack Munitions] – may offer potential solutions to our problems and help strengthen the arsenal of deterrence at this urgent moment,” Gallager concluded.

Congressman Gallager referenced “MacGyver,” the iconic 1980s TV character known for creating weapons and tools from ordinary objects.  Gallager suggested utilizing current components and older Harpoon missiles from the U.S. Military stockpile, enabling the Pentagon to deliver urgently needed weapons to Taiwan sooner and at a substantially reduced cost per unit.

Ukraine successfully adapted the harpoon missiles for truck-mounted launchers with American assistance in June 2022. These truck-launched U.S. missiles were effective in sinking two Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Another improvised weapon option for the Taiwanese military that Gallager referenced would be a modified version of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), a guided bomb widely used by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. These precision-guided bombs proved effective over years of combat, with production reaching around 45,000 JDAMs at its peak. A significant number of these remain in the U.S. arsenal.

These adaptations of weapons serve as instances of innovative thinking aimed at enhancing defenses against a potential Chinese invasion on Taiwan. “The critical nature of the situation demands such measures,” Mr. Gallagher emphasized, urging Ms. Hicks to respond to a series of inquiries posed by the committee by January 8th.

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