Proposed by Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., US Senate’s annual Defense authorization bill will now include $10 billion in military aid for Taiwan — more than double the initial amount proposed — and it is expected to receive the official approval after November mid-term elections. Reed told reporters that this Defense package remains consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, and it will arrive as usual under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF), the America program that allows other countries to purchase US military equipment with grants and loans, and will set Taipei purchasing ahead of other countries in the queue. A movement which will not make others, like Saudi Arabia, happy for it.As part of the proposal, there is a taskassignedto the Government to develop a list of weapons systems that should be pre-cleared and prioritized for sale and release to Taiwan through a quick FMF program passage. To ensure a quick approval, it has already been planned a strict management of any possible delay or backlog of this items. As per the aid provided to Ukraine, the support to Taiwan includes the authorization up to $1 billion a year in presidential drawdown authority from existing U.S. stockpiles to transfer Defense articles to Taiwan in the event of an emergency. The proposal also includesa comprehensive training program with the Taiwanese military, authorizing the State Department to conduct International Professional Military Education (PME) and Training programs for Taiwan. Due to being classified, it has not been publicly released the list of the military items which will be purchased under the new proposal, however, it could be easily assessed: HARPOON Anti-ship missiles, Air to Air missiles for the Taiwanese F-16s (SIDEWINDERs), STANDARD missiles (SM-6?) and PATRIOTs for the Air Defence and drones.

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