Taiwan to acquire more than 1,000 armed drones in new US arms sale

The United States has approved the $360 million sale of more than 1,000 small armed drones to Taiwan, as the self-ruled island claimed by China aims to strengthen its asymmetrical warfare abilities with an eye on successful tactics used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Taiwan will receive 720 Switchblade missiles and accompanying fire control systems worth $60.2 million, according to a release from the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on Tuesday.

The US will also provide Taiwan with up to 291 Altius 600M loitering munitions and supporting components with a price tag of $300 million, the DSCA said.

The proposed sale comes as China increasesmilitary pressure on Taiwan, with extensive military exercises around it and almost daily warplane flights near the island.

China’s ruling Communist Party claims democratic Taiwan as its own, despite never having controlled it, and has vowed to “reunify” with the island, by force if necessary.

Under the Taiwan Relations Act, Washington is legally required to provide the island with the means to defend itself, and it supplies Taipei with defensive weaponry.

But the arms sales have drawn angry rebukes from Beijing.

In a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit in Singapore earlier this month, Chinese Defense Minister Adm. Dong Jun slammed “external interfering forces” for selling arms and having “illegal official contacts” with Taiwan, in an apparent reference to the US.

Taiwan's armed forces hold two days of routine drills to show combat readiness at a military base on January 11, 2023 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

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The Switchblade, which looks like a small fixed-wing drone, is an