The US Congress is moving forward with the sale of four sophisticated aerial drones to Taiwan. A Reuters report on Monday quoted sources saying it is in the last stage of approval and could approve the sales this week.
The US$600 million arms package includes four MQ-9 Sea Guardian drones made by General Atomics that would come with surveillance equipment and ground stations.
The deal would be the first such sale since the Trump administration loosened the export of sophisticated drone technology. They are also just one of a number of arms packages the US State Department sent to Congress last month.
On Oct. 21, the State Department sent notifications to Congress for three arms packages. They include long range rocket launchers by Lockheed Martin called High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) missiles and external sensor pods for F-16 jets.
On Oct. 26 the State Department also proposed a package of 100 cruise missile stations and 400 land-based Harpoon anti-ship missiles made by Boeing Company.
The packages are a show of US support for Taiwan’s defense capability as China increases its pressure on Taiwan through increased military maneuvers near Taiwan.