Taiwan purchased from the United States a $699 million advanced missile system that has been battle-tested in Ukraine. It marked the second recent weapons package between Taiwan and the U.S., bringing the total to more than $1 billion.
The U.S.-made, medium-range National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) is a new asset for Taiwan. Production is expected to be completed on the system by 2031, the U.S. Department of War said in late November 2025. In the Indo-Pacific, only Australia and Indonesia operate the NASAMS in addition to the U.S., which announced the sale to Taiwan in 2024 as part of a $2 billion weapons agreement.
Demand is surging for the system, which Ukraine has used to defend against Russia, and NASAMS will boost Taiwan’s air defense capabilities.
“It should be clear today and will remain clear into the future that America’s commitments to Taiwan are rock solid,” Raymond Greene, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, said after the sale was confirmed.
“We are backing these words with actions, with a focus on supporting Taiwan’s efforts to achieve peace through strength,” he said. “Nowhere is this more apparent than in our growing defense industrial cooperation.”
Washington previously approved the sale of fighter jet and other aircraft parts to Taiwan for $330 million, the first such deal since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, prompting thanks from Taipei.
Although the U.S. does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a long-standing federal law requires Washington to make available “defense articles and defense services” in necessary quantities for Taiwan to “maintain a self-sufficient capability.”
The latest arms sale comes amid tension between China and Japan over Taiwan. China claims the self-governed island as its territory and threatens to annex it by force. Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
China Coast Guard ships recently sailed around East China Sea islands controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing. Japan also said it scrambled fighter jets after China flew a drone between Taiwan and Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni.
Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said China “should abandon its thinking of using force to resolve things.”
Taiwan’s military is bolstering its armaments to counter a potential attack from China, including building submarines to defend vital maritime supply lines.
China’s military operates around Taiwan almost daily in a gray-zone strategy to test and exhaust Taipei’s forces.