The US Department of State has approved the sale of kamikaze drones and missiles to Taiwan for US$360 million, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Tuesday.
Included in the two separate packages are 720 Switchblade 300 loitering munitions and related equipment for an estimated cost of US$60.2 million, and 291 ALTIUS 600M-V drone systems and related equipment for an estimated cost of US$300 million, the agency said.
“The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region,” it said in separate news releases announcing the sales.
Photo: Screen grab from AeroVironment’s Facebook page
Taipei had expressed interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities to enhance its asymmetric warfare capabilities, sources said last month.
Loitering munitions fly around an area until a target is located, then attack by crashing into it.
The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed to attack ground troops, which Ukrainian forces have utilized extensively in their fight against Russia’s invasion.
The ALTIUS 600M-V is the warhead variant of the Anduril series of loitering munitions. It can be deployed from various platforms and in a networked swarm.
The Ministry of National Defense on X yesterday thanked Washington for the approval, saying it would “enhance our ability to meet current and future threats” in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances.”
In a separate statement, the ministry said that approval time was significantly expedited for the sales.
It thanked its US counterparts for their efforts to accelerate arms sales to Taiwan.
The US’ official approval of the sale of the weapons would bolster Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, Presidential Office spokeswoman Kuo Ya-hui (郭雅慧) said.
The Presidential Office thanks the US government for observing the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances,” and continuing to strengthen the Taiwan-US partnership to jointly uphold regional peace, Kuo said.
The combined package is the 15th authorized to Taiwan since the administration of US President Joe Biden took office in 2021, highlighting the US government’s emphasis on regional stability and peace, she said.
Taiwan would continue to augment its self-defense and asymmetrical warfare capabilities to defend and uphold its democratic and free government, she said.
Taiwan would also continue to work with like-minded countries to ensure that the Indo-Pacific region remains free and open to all, foster global peace, stability and prosperity, and contribute in a meaningful and benign manner, she added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the US is working with like-minded partners to urge China to stop oppressing Taiwan, and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan would continue to deepen Taiwan-US security partnerships, and work together to maintain a rules-based world order to foster stability, peace and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, the ministry said.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS