The US’ US$345 million military aid package for Taiwan announced late last month would include four MQ-9A reconnaissance drones, a military source said yesterday.
Washington is still working on removing some of the more advanced and sensitive components of the drones, so there is no set delivery date, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The US$345 million aid package also includes training programs and ammunitions for Taiwan’s military, the source added.
Photo: Reuters
Asked about the source’s comment, the Ministry of National Defense said that it could not provide further details of the aid package to honor the US-Taiwan agreement.
Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Institute of Strategic Studies, had earlier said that the drones would significantly boost Taiwan’s overall intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, as they can swiftly pass receive intelligence to logistics units via a satellite link.
Taiwan also purchased four MQ-9B “Sea Guardian” drones from former US president Donald Trump’s administration for US$217 million, with delivery expected in 2025.
The US announced the US$345 million military aid package for Taiwan on July 28, which is to be delivered under a Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) approved last year by the US Congress and permits up to US$1 billion of weapons aid to be sent to Taiwan in fiscal 2023.
The PDA enables the US president to direct a drawdown to provide military assistance to US allies in crisis situations.
It allows for the speedy delivery of defense articles and services from the Pentagon’s existing stock to foreign countries and international organizations to respond to “unforeseen emergencies,” the US Department of State said.
However, since last year, Taiwan has been highlighting delays in the delivery of weapons it has purchased from the US.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of