Author: Joe O’Connor
On Wednesday evening, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency and Department of State notified Congress and the public of eight proposed arms sales to Taiwan worth US$11.1 billion in total, confirming reporting from Reuters only hours before. Counted together, this is the largest single arms sale in Taiwan’s history. Below is a detailed accounting of each sale and its contents, along with reactions from the Taiwanese Presidential Office and the PRC’s Taiwan Affairs Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
What Is Being Sold?
It is worth prefacing that the below sales are mostly building on current capabilities that Taiwan has, either by expanding stockpiles (in the case of HIMARS, Javelins, TOWs, and ALTIUS) or receiving upgraded versions of equipment (in the case of the Paladins). This is significant as it means that Taiwan has determined how to use these capabilities and is not introducing new platforms that would require additional training time.
HIMARS: The single largest sale in this package, at US$4.05 billion (NT$127.2 billion), consists of 82 HIMARS launchers, 420 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, 756 Guided Multiple Rocket Launch System (GMLRS) unitary rocket pods, 447 GMLRS-Alternative Warhead (GMLRS-AW) rocket pods, and 39 High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV or Humvees). This sale comes after a plus-up sale approved in December 2022 for 29 HIMARS launchers, 20 ATACMS, and 144 GMLRS pods; as of December 2025, Taiwan has only received 11 launchers and is expected to receive the remaining 18, plus munitions, in 2026.
M109A7 Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzers: Worth US$4.03 billion (NT$126.6 billion), this sale consists of 60 Paladins, 60 M992A3 Carrier Ammunition Tracked Vehicles (CATVs), 13 M88A2 Recovery Vehicles, 4,080 Precision Guidance Kits, and 42 International Field Artillery Tactical Data Systems (IFATDS), as well as an unspecified number of M2A1 machine guns and M795 155-mm ammunition. This sale is expected to be half of the proposed 120 Paladins, a deal that was reduced from 168 and then cancelled by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense in 2022 due to concerns about delays caused by the war in Ukraine.
ALTIUS-700M and 600 Systems: Worth US$1.10 billion (NT$34.54 billion), this sale consists of an unknown quantity of ALTIUS-700M loitering munitions and ALTIUS-600 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. A previous sale of 291 ALTIUS-600M-V loitering munitions was authorized in June 2024, and an unknown quantity was delivered in August 2025, with all expected to be delivered by the end of this year.
Tactical Mission Network: Worth US$1.01 billion (NT$31.71 billion). The congressional notification for this sale appears to refer to it as a single network, and per Janes, it is a concept explored recently by the U.S. Special Operations Command to “operationalize chat and data-sharing environments” similarly to platforms such as Signal and WhatsApp. The sale also includes unspecified unmanned aerial systems as well as software.
Javelin Missiles: Worth US$375 million (NT$11.78 billion), consisting of 1,050 Javelin FGM-148F missiles, 10 Javelin fly-to-buy missiles, and 70 Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units (LwCLUs). The last Javelin sale authorized to Taiwan was in December 2015, and was modified in 2019 to total 400 missiles and 46 LwCLUs. Despite delays owing to the war in Ukraine, those Javelins were delivered in July 2024, per an October 2024 MND report cited by TSM Fellow Eric Gomez.
TOW-2B Missiles: Worth US$353 million (NT$11.08 billion), consisting of 1,545 TOW-2B BGM-71F-7-RF missiles, 16 TOW-2B fly-to-buy missiles, and 24 Improved Target Acquisition Systems. Taiwan was last authorized sales of TOW missiles in December 2015 and July 2019, having all 1,700 across both sales delivered in December 2024, despite the original timeline stating delivery in 2022.
AH-1W Helicopter Spare/Repair Parts: Worth US$96 million (NT$3.01 billion), consisting of an unknown quantity of AH-1W SuperCobra helicopter unclassified spare and repair parts. This is a routine maintenance sale for AH-1Ws that Taiwan was authorized to buy in July 1997.
Harpoon Missile Repair Follow-on Support: Worth US$91.4 million (NT$2.87 billion), consisting of an unknown quantity of Harpoon radar seekers, as well as return, repair, and reshipment of Naval Harpoon missiles. This is a routine maintenance sale for what appears to be RGM-84 Harpoons on ROCN vessels, as opposed to the Harpoon Coastal Defense System authorized in 2020 or air-launched Harpoons approved in 2022.
Reaction to the Sales
Immediately after the announcement, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s Presidential Office stated that they were “sincerely grateful to the US government for once again demonstrating that it continues to fulfill its security commitments.” The spokesperson also noted it was the “second arms sale to Taiwan announced during the Trump administration,” and reiterated statements made previously by Lai administration officials concerning increased defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2026 and 5% by 2030. No statements have thus far been made by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, or TECRO Mission in the United States.
In Beijing, the news of the sale was met with a flurry of condemnations from several PRC state organs. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the sale in a press conference on Thursday, condemning it and promising to “take resolute and strong measures to defend its national sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.” Additionally, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, an organ responsible for cross-Strait relations, accused Taipei of “seeking independence by relying on the U.S.” and said such sales would turn Taiwan into a “powder keg.”
In Washington, however (as of the time of writing, Thursday morning), there have been no statements aside from the initial DSCA congressional notifications, including none from senior members of the Senate and House Foreign Affairs Committees, or Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The American Institute in Taiwan also has not commented.
What Does This Mean?
This batch of proposed sales represents a large commitment on the part of the Trump administration to support Taiwan, but is not immune from challenges. Legislative Yuan approval of the DPP’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion special budget is hamstrung by KMT and TPP opposition legislators, who demurred on placing it on the agenda until President Lai testified, an action that the LY cannot compel (causing a minor constitutional crisis). This threatens to delay delivery of not only current sales, but also these future ones, particularly if the special budget is cut or fails to pass.
The issue of production challenges also merits consideration. HIMARS production has increased, so much so that the MND has classified its remaining 18 launchers from the 2022 sale to be ahead of schedule, and it is likely that these additional HIMARS will not be excessively delayed. A potential decrease in support to Ukraine also means that Paladins and Javelins could be focused on Taiwan instead, decreasing timelines further. But it merits remembering that currently (not counting these recent sales), over US$21 billion in already authorized equipment is delayed, including F-16C/D Block 70s and AGM-154C Joint Standoff Weapons, due to production issues.
Watching the progress of the special budget through the LY, as well as other arms developments, will be valuable in determining how these new sales will work. Overall, however, this is an encouraging development for Taiwan’s security.