The military expects to receive the first two of four MQ-9B "SkyGuardian" drones it ordered from the US in the third quarter of next year as scheduled, an air force general said today.
During a Legislative Yuan session, air force Chief of Staff Lee Ching-jan (李慶然) said that production of the next-generation, US-made drones was proceeding as planned.
Photo from the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Web site
According to the military's budget proposal for this fiscal year, the remaining two MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones would be delivered in 2027.
In a 2020 statement announcing the sale, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the MQ-9Bs would provide Taiwan with "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, target acquisition, and counter-land, counter-sea and anti-submarine strike capabilities."
Taiwan's military is also set to receive 14 M136 Volcano mine-dispensing systems and 28 Abrams tanks from the US next year.
Lee was responding to concerns raised by lawmakers about delayed US weapons shipments to Taiwan.
Last month, the air force said it would not receive all 66 F-16 Block 70 jets from the US by the end of next year, as originally scheduled, due to labor shortages and supply chain disruptions.
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