A proposal to sell four advanced U.S. drones to Taiwan has passed an important hurdle in Congress and is in the final stages of approval, Reuters reported Monday (Nov. 2), citing sources.
The $600 million deal is the first military sale of its kind since the Trump administration relaxed its policy on exporting advanced and highly classified drone technology, Reuters said.
The U.S. State Department will likely formally notify Congress later this week, one of the sources said. Congress has 30 days to object after it is formally notified, but there is broad bipartisan support in Congress for providing defense support to Taiwan.
The four drones are the MQ-9 “Sea Guardian” manufactured by General Atomics, and the sales package will also include associated ground stations and training. While the drones can carry weapons, the four drones will be equipped with reconnaissance equipment, Reuters quoted a source as saying.
Just last month, the U.S. State Department approved four major arms sales to Taiwan.
On October 21, the U.S. administration notified Congress that it had approved three possible arms sales to Taiwan. One consignment includes 11 M142 Highly Mobile Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and related equipment, with an estimated value of $436.1 million. Another lot consists of 135 AGM-84H extended range extraterritorial surface attack missiles and related equipment, estimated to be worth over $1 billion. The third lot includes six MS-110 reconnaissance pods for F-16 fighter jets and related equipment, with an estimated value of $367.2 million.
On October 26, the U.S. Administration notified Congress of its approval of a possible sale of up to 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems (HCDS) and related equipment to Taiwan. The total value of the arms sales package was estimated at $2.37 billion.
These arms sales were met with protests from Beijing. Beijing announced sanctions against U.S. companies involved in the arms sales to Taiwan, including U.S. military manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, and aircraft manufacturer Boeing, as well as U.S. individuals and entities that “played an egregious role” in the arms sales to Taiwan.
Taipei expressed its “sincere welcome” and “heartfelt gratitude” to Washington for these arms sales decisions.
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