The U.S. State Department formally announced on Tuesday (11/3) that it will sell four armed MQ-9 drones to Taiwan to assist in Taiwan’s self-defense.
After Reuters first reported on Monday (11/2) that the U.S. had approved the sale of four advanced drones to Taiwan, the State Department issued a statement on Tuesday confirming the sale. The statement said that the arms sale was part of the U.S. “effort to assist Taiwan in its ongoing efforts to develop a modernized military force and ensure that it can maintain a reliable defense capability. The U.S. State Department also said the move helps maintain military balance and political stability in the East Asian region.
The State Department approved the sale of four MQ-9B Defender drones that can be equipped with weapons, two fixed ground control stations, two mobile control stations and 14 Selective Anti-Spoofing Modules (SAASM) embedded GPS (EGI), SeaVue maritime patrol radar, totaling about $600 million (about 17.144 billion Taiwan dollars), according to the statement.
The U.S. State Department has officially informed Congress of this military sale. This is the first such arms sale since the Trump administration relaxed its policy of exporting sophisticated and leak-proof drone technology, and the 10th military sale to Taiwan since Trump took office.
The four MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones were reportedly built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and will be sold along with related ground stations and surrogate training.
Under the rules, after the State Department formally notifies Congress of the arms sale, Congress has 30 days to approve and decide whether to reject the sale. Reuters said in its report that with bipartisan support for assisting Taiwan’s defense at this point, Congress is unlikely to veto the sale.
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