Taiwan will purchase more than 400 Hellfire missiles from the United States, worth a total of about US$50 million, American defense industry sources said Tuesday.

Lockheed Martin Corp. said in a news release that the company will produce over 600 AGM-114M and AGM-114K Hellfire missiles in line with its contract with the U.S. Army.

According to an agreement between Taiwan and the U.S. Army, the press statement said, 70 percent of those air-to-ground missiles will be sold to Taiwan. The statement further said that 5 percent to 10 percent of the Hellfire missiles will be delivered to Israel and the rest will be used by the U.S. Army.

Lockheed Martin Corp. said the company has begun producing the missiles and is scheduled to complete production in six months.

Mark Stenger, director of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s air-to-ground missile system planning department, said Hellfire missiles are accurate and that their efficacy has been verified in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Noting that Hellfire missiles can be used to strike ships, light armored vehicles and buildings, Stenger said what Taiwan will acquire will be the world's best air-to-ground weaponry system.

Hellfire missiles can be installed on gunships such as Apache helicopters. With the acquisition of Hellfire missiles, Lockheed Martin sources said,

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Taiwan's armed forces can easily get in touch or conduct joint operations with U.S. overseas ground forces, marines and special service forces.

The Hellfire missile functions like a miniature aircraft, complete with its own guidance computer, steering and propulsion system. The payload is a high-explosive, copper-lined-charge powerful enough to burn through the heaviest tank armor in existence.