WASHINGTON — The US government has approved a series of potential Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases for Taiwan, totaling an estimated $11 billion-worth of defense equipment, from rocket systems to aerial drones to howitzers.
The transactions, should they proceed, would reportedly be the largest arms sale to Taiwan in US history. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency listed the potential sales in a series of announcements on its website late Wednesday, saying in each that the proposed sale “serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.”
The sales would also “help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region,” DSCA said. (Technically, the sales are to the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States,” or TECRO, which is the de facto embassy in Washington.)
According to the DCSA, the potential sales include:
- 82 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), 420 ATACMS systems and other strike weapons, valued at up to $4.05 billion
- 60 M109A7 Self-Propelled Howitzers valued at up to $4.030 billion
- Altius Autonomous Air Vehicles valued at up to $1.1 billion
- Tactical Mission Network Software valued at up to $1.01 billion
- 1,050 Javelin Missiles valued at up to $375 million
- 1,545 TOW 2B Missiles valued at up to $353 million
- AH-1W Helicopter spare and repair parts valued at up to $96 million
As expected, China did not take the announcement well, saying the offer of the arms package “grossly violates the one-China principle,” undermines stability in the region and “sends a gravely wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists forces.”
“China firmly opposes and strongly condemns it,” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “The Taiwan question is at the core of China’s core interests, and is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations. No one shall underestimate the firm will and strong capability of the Chinese government and the Chinese people in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s defense minister, Willington Koo, today inspected a live-fire exercise involving the Altius drones on offer. The ministry said on X that Taiwan “appreciate[s] the US providing us with key defense systems,” including the Altius systems.
The potential sales have officially been notified to Congress, but the item number and values can change as negotiations continue. Lawmakers also have the opportunity to step in to halt the sales, a rare step that’s unlikely as there’s fairly broad concensus on the Hill that Taiwan needs America’s backing.