US increases military aid to Taiwan to USD 480 Mn.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the United States has increased its contribution to Taiwan's military capabilities this week, bringing the total to US$480 million. This increase includes a combination of grants that can be used directly in the US and drawdowns from US inventories. The US Department of State informed lawmakers of this development and raised the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) available to Taiwan by an additional US$55 million.
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The additional military aid package to Taiwan could include four unarmed MQ-9A reconnaissance drones (Picture source: GA-ASI)

Interestingly, these funds were redirected from the originally allocated budget for Egypt. This comes on top of the US$80 million in FMF funding for Taiwan that was previously communicated to the US Congress on August 31. It's noteworthy that the United States had previously limited the utilization of this funding mechanism to specific major allies like Israel and Egypt.

As also echoed by Focus Taiwan, in a significant move, the White House had previously announced in late July that Taiwan would be allowed to draw down US$345 million worth of equipment and arms from US inventories, although the specific items were not detailed. According to documents from the State Department, the FMF funding can be employed to acquire a wide range of equipment, including air and coastal defense systems, rocket artillery, the widely used US air defense and counter-rocket system known as C-RAM, counter-drone systems, as well as equipment for soldiers and small arms.

The package could include four unarmed MQ-9A reconnaissance drones (the purported provision of MQ-9A drones should not be confused with a contract that the U.S. Air Force signed with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in May to supply Taiwan with four MQ-9B "Sky Guardian" drones). It's important to note that the authorization for this FMF funding for Taiwan was included in this year's defense policy bill, allowing for appropriations of up to US$2 billion per year through 2027.

Defense News September 2023