Agence France-Presse, The Pentagon announced possible military sales to Taiwan worth more than 2.2 billion dollars Sept. 12, including a dozen P-3C Orion anti-submarine patrol aircraft and SM-2 anti-aircraft missiles.
The Defense Security and Cooperation Agency said the sales would help maintain “political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region.”
The Pentagon agency said Taiwan had requested 12 P-3C aircraft with engines and other equipment and three non-operational aircraft that would be used for spares. They would cost 1.96 billion dollars if all options were exercised, it said. It said Taiwan’s current patrol aircraft are reaching the end of their operational life and need to be replaced.
The P-3C Orions, which would come from excess U.S. stock, are capable of conducting maritime patrol and reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare.The agency also notified Congress of a possible sale of 144 SM-2 Block IIIA Standard missiles valued at as high 272 million dollars.
Taiwan, which already has SM-2 missiles, intended to use them on its destroyers to defend its navy against air and cruise missile threats, it said.
The sale would serve U.S. interests “by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and enhance its defensive ability to counter air threats,” the agency said.
The missiles are built by Raytheon Missile Systems Corporation on Tuscon, Arizona.
