The Pentagon announced that "Lockheed Martin" (Lockheed Martin) has been awarded a contract to sell foreign military equipment to Taiwan to meet what Washington defines as an "urgent operational need" for the Taiwanese air force.
The contract is worth $328.5 million, with $157.3 million of that for foreign military sales, mandatory at the time of the contract, the Pentagon specified.
Washington maintains formal diplomatic relations with China, but also has informal ties with Taiwan.
The Pentagon is the island's most important arms supplier. The United States is legally obligated to provide Taiwan with self-defense equipment, although such arms sales are a persistent source of tension with China.
Taiwan remained on high alert Wednesday after China conducted large-scale military exercises around the island the previous day, the Taipei Coast Guard said.
"This contract provides for the purchase and delivery of fifty-five Legion Enhanced Sensor infrared search and track sensors, processors, sensor pods and processor pods required to meet the urgent operational needs of the Taiwanese Air Force," the Pentagon said.
The work on the contract will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by June 2031.
In mid-December, the Trump administration announced an $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan, the largest arms package ever sold by the United States to the island, which is under increasing military pressure from China.
China claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under Chinese control. Taiwan, which rejects China's claims, has condemned the latest exercises as a threat to regional security and a clear provocation.