Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) – The U.S. War Department announced that it has awarded Raytheon Co. a nearly $700 million contract to purchase advanced surface-to-air missile systems for sale to Taiwan. This marks the second U.S. arms sale to Taiwan within a week, bringing the total arms sales to $1 billion.
The contract, announced on the Pentagon's website, shows that on November 17, Raytheon, located in Texbury, Massachusetts, received a fixed-price contract from the U.S. Army to produce the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS).
The Pentagon stated that this is part of the 2026 fiscal year's Foreign Military Sales (Taiwan) funding and was allocated at the time of the contract award. It expects the project to be completed in February 2031.
Raytheon is a major U.S. defense contractor, best known for products including the Patriot air defense missile system, the Tomahawk cruise missile, and the Javelin anti-tank missile. In 2020, Raytheon merged with United Technologies to form Raytheon Technologies. In 2023, the company changed its name to RTX.
On November 18, Raymond Greene, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Taipei Office, stated in his address at the 2025 Annual General Meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan that the United States' commitment to Taiwan is rock-solid.
He said, "We are putting our words into action, particularly focusing on supporting Taiwan's efforts to achieve peace through strength—the increasing cooperation between the U.S. and Taiwan in the defense industry is the most obvious example."
The de facto U.S. ambassador to Taiwan also affirmed Taiwan's commitment to ensuring its defense-related spending reaches 5% of its GDP by 2030.
He said, "Such investment in the defense industry is not only crucial for enhancing deterrence and ensuring peace, but will also create new opportunities for U.S.-Taiwan cooperation."
This comes within a week of the U.S. announcing two arms sales to Taiwan. On November 13, the U.S. approved the sale of $330 million worth of fighter jets and other aircraft parts to Taiwan. This marks the first arms sale to Taiwan announced since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Taipei expressed its "sincere gratitude," while Beijing expressed "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition" to the United States.
China views democratic and autonomous Taiwan as a province awaiting reunification and has repeatedly threatened to use force to achieve this goal. The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but maintains strong unofficial relations and provides Taiwan with weapons for self-defense, acting as its primary supplier of defense materials and services. The U.S. government has consistently stated its commitment to maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait but continues to oppose any actions that alter the status quo in Taiwan by force or coercion.
