Drone, missile sales

WASHINGTON - The White House is moving forward with more sales of sophisticated military equipment to Taiwan, telling Congress on Tuesday that it will seek to sell Taipei MQ-9 drones and a coastal defensive missile system, sources familiar with the situation said.

The possible sales follow three other notifications first reported by Reuters on Monday that drew China’s ire as the United States prepares for its November 3 election.

One of the eight sources said that in total the sales were valued at around $5 billion ($F10.62 billion). Very often figures for US foreign military sales include costs for training, spares and fees making the values difficult to pinpoint. Reuters broke the news in September that as many as seven major weapons systems were making their way through the US export process as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on China.

The pre-notification to Congress for the General Atomics-made MQ-9 drones is the first after President Donald Trump’s administration moved ahead with its plan to sell more drones to more countries by reinterpreting an international arms control agreement called the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

Tuesday’s other congressional pre-notification was for land-based Harpoon antiship missiles, made by Boeing Co, to serve as coastal defense cruise missiles. One of the sources said the approximately 100 cruise missiles that were notified to Capitol Hill would have a cost of about $2 billion ($F4.25 billion). Representatives for the US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.