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Friday, 10 July 2020_The United States has approved a request from Taiwan to modernize the self-ruled island’s Patriot surface-to-air missile systems to counter what it claims as "regional threats", amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington.
The US State Department said on Friday that Taiwan had requested to buy an estimated $620 million upgrade package for its Patriot missiles “in order to support an operational life of 30 years.”
The Department said Lockheed Martin would be the main contractor and explicitly announced that the sale would not only serve US interests but strengthen Taiwan’s military in the face of “regional threats” — in a veiled rebuke of China.
“This proposed sale serves US 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 US State Department said.
“The recipient will use this capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen homeland defense. The recipient will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces,” it added.
Taiwan’s defense ministry confirmed the report and said the arms sale — the seventh by the US administration to the island — is expected to take effect within the next month.
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