Taiwan receives U.S. acceptance letter for HIMARS: Koo

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has received a letter of acceptance (LOA) from the United States for the sale of high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) that expires on March 26, Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said Tuesday.

Koo confirmed receipt of the LOA while speaking with reporters at the Legislature.

The United States announced the sale of 82 HIMARS to Taiwan on Dec. 17 at an estimated cost of US$4.05 billion as part of a historic US$11.1 billion arms package.

• Defense ministry to buy time from U.S. to avoid derailing arms sales

An LOA is the binding document confirming that a foreign government agrees to buy military equipment under a regulated government program, and gives the U.S. government the authority to contract with U.S. weapons makers to acquire the systems.

The offer expires if the buyer does not sign the LOA by the deadline, and the deal needs to be reviewed again.

In addition to the HIMARS LOA, Taiwan has received LOAs for M109A7 self-propelled howitzers (US$4.03 billion), Javelin anti-armor missiles (US$375 million) and TOW missiles (US$353 million).

The deadline for signing those LOAs is March 15, according to the MND.

The MND is still awaiting the acceptance letter for of Altius-700M and Altius-600 drones.

Koo expressed the hope that the Legislature will swiftly authorize the MND to sign the LOAs for all five systems, particularly the HIMARS, warning that the acquisition could be "significantly impacted" if the agreement is not signed in time.

The government and opposition-controlled Legislature have been at loggerheads over the financing of weapons the U.S. has approved or will approve for sale or domestic systems it considers necessary for Taiwan's defense.

A special budget of NT$1.25 trillion (about US$40 billion) was proposed by the Cabinet to cover the acquisition of domestic and foreign-made weapons systems over the next eight years, but opposition parties have only approved NT$400 billion in funding for the purchase of weapons in the US$11.1 billion arms package.

Finding agreement on the LOAs with upcoming deadlines may happen before the funding bills are reconciled.

A motion submitted by the opposition Taiwan People's Party to authorize the MND to sign the first three LOAs advanced to a second reading on Friday, but cross-caucus negotiations will have to be held for the motion to advance further.

Meanwhile, asked to comment on a news report that delivery of two MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones had been delayed due to the war in the Middle East, Koo questioned the report's source.

"I don't know where that news came from," Koo said, adding that no weapons deliveries have so far been affected by the conflict in the Middle East.

Taiwan has ordered four MQ-9B surveillance drones from the United States, originally scheduled for delivery in 2025. The timeline has since been pushed back to 2026 and 2027.

Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Ching-jan (李慶然) said at the Legislature in November that the first batch of MQ-9B drones is scheduled to arrive in the third quarter of this year.