The State Department approved a potential $100 million Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Taiwan of equipment and services to support participation in the Patriot International Engineering Services Program (IESP) and Field Surveillance Program (FSP) for five years.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the sale on Feb. 7.
The sale includes engineering services support, designed to sustain, maintain, and improve the Patriot Air Defense System within the performance envelope described in the system specification via the investigation and resolution of identified problems; missile field surveillance support for legacy (Guidance Enhanced Missile (GEM)) and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles, designed to ensure the reliability and performance of the Patriot missile through storage and aging programs, surveillance firing programs, and configuration management; legacy and PAC-3 missile stockpile reliability testing, to provide quantitative reliability assessments of the deployed missile round; and other elements of U.S. and contractor technical and logistics support.
DSCA noted that participation in the shared IESP and FPS for the life of the Patriot missile system is a requirement by the U.S. government.
The primary contractors for this work include Raytheon Technologies [RTX] and Lockheed Martin [LMT].
DSCA said this sale will help sustain Taiwan’s “missile density and ensure readiness for air operations.”
The agency also noted this sale serves U.S. interests by supporting Taiwan’s continuing effort to modernize its armed forces and maintain a “credible defensive capability.”
“The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region,” the agency added.
The sale is going through the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), the Taiwan equivalent of an embassy, as with all other Taiwan FMSs.