Speaker 1: Now Taiwan could soon receive a package of one hundred
Speaker 1: Patriot missiles from the US. The cost approximately eight hundred
Speaker 1: two million dollars for those let's get closer to the show.
Speaker 1: We we're joined by Tony Cappaccio, who is a Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Pentagon reporter. Tony, thanks so much. So this is fascinating
Speaker 1: because this is brand new hardware hardware. But but the
Speaker 1: deal is morphed out of a twenty ten sales so
Speaker 1: it's classified as as not really a new deal. What
Speaker 1: what's the significance of all of this. That's a very
Speaker 1: interesting way to put it. Morphed out of That's a
Speaker 1: very interesting accurate way to say it. Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: one way I think they can get away with saying
Speaker 1: we don't have any new sales planned. But the hardware
Speaker 1: is pretty interesting. The Taiwan has the Pack three and
Speaker 1: they's earlier Pack two Patriots. These are what they call
Speaker 1: hit to kill, with very sophisticated sensors that could they
Speaker 1: hit the missile versus they explode next to one. So
Speaker 1: this new version, it would be up to Taiwan to
Speaker 1: put in a a sales order for what they call
Speaker 1: this is a clubsy name, but it's called the Mission
Speaker 1: Missile Segment Enhancements. Basically, it's the best Patriot missile the
Speaker 1: US has. It can fire farther, it's fins making more maneuverable,
Speaker 1: and it's just got a more powerful motor. So the
Speaker 1: issue here is selling them on these missiles along with
Speaker 1: test equipment and very importantly modifications to their current launcher
Speaker 1: kits launchers basically and then upgraded software. This package of
Speaker 1: two million dollars, it's a possible sale. I don't need
Speaker 1: to say this would fall under the threshold of the
Speaker 1: ten year old contract that had a maximum order of
Speaker 1: two point eight one billion dollars. If it was over
Speaker 1: that threshold, they'd have to say this was a new sale.
Speaker 1: My understanding is that this the thail and he's a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago, has signaled a budgeteer of budget
Speaker 1: interest in doing this, and I gotta think this is
Speaker 1: gonna move pretty fast after Congress approves it within thirty days.
Speaker 1: That yeah, and Tony, the the the geopolitical dynamic of this,
Speaker 1: because you have in and I went back and actually
Speaker 1: read your story of of that China had reacted very
Speaker 1: strongly and and what canceled partnerships with the US, So,
Speaker 1: I mean, and things are very tense now, so it's
Speaker 1: not out of the roma possibility they will be a
Speaker 1: very strong reaction to this as well. There could be. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the cuteness here is that it's not really
Speaker 1: a new sale the Biden administration can say, but a
Speaker 1: modification under an umbrella contract or more morphing. As you said,
Speaker 1: I gotta think so that they are going to react
Speaker 1: because this is a new, more powerful missile that can
Speaker 1: fire longer and farther excuse me longer and maneuver better.
Speaker 1: So so they're they're they're gonna be so So how
Speaker 1: I mean, what now? What is the partnership between the
Speaker 1: US and China militarily? What what could be hurt by this?
Speaker 1: What's the gamble? I'm thinking it's not so much hurting
Speaker 1: our relationships with China as them taking more provocative short
Speaker 1: term actions like maybe additional missiles launchings or area intrusive
Speaker 1: aerial demonstrations like they did when Speaker Pelosi visited Taiwan,
Speaker 1: or you know what this made There may be nothing, Okay,
Speaker 1: So what are we talking about here in the United States?
Speaker 1: Does this have to be funded or can this can
Speaker 1: this you said, move move quickly? Does this? Does Congress
Speaker 1: get involved? How does it work? Congresses? They were when
Speaker 1: what they call the informal stage, notification stage, and they
Speaker 1: have thirty days to formally approve it. It's basically a
Speaker 1: pocket veto. If they don't object, it goes through, and
Speaker 1: then it's in Taiwan's ballpark to come up with a
Speaker 1: funding request, I mean a sales request to the State Department.
Speaker 1: Were not giving me things for free, but the process
Speaker 1: is in motion. Got it all right, Tony? Thank you
Speaker 1: for explaining that the process is a little bit complicated. Uh,
Speaker 1: Tony cappacrio kindagon, of course, out of Bloomberg