The US Joint Training Team Establishes in Taiwan Four MQ-4A UAVs are expected to arrive in Taiwan

The Biden administration provided $3 million in military aid to the Republic of China for the first time a month ago using presidential appropriation authority (PDA). It has been confirmed that the US military aid projects mainly include four MQ-4500A unmanned aerial vehicles, Javelin anti-armor missiles, human-portable spike missile trainers and a number of reconnaissance and investigation systems, combat protection equipment, squad infantry weapons, small-caliber ammunition, personnel protective equipment, etc.

The US military also formally established a “Joint Training Team” in Taiwan a month ago, which will fully integrate Taiwan’s three armed services to purchase new weapons and rearmament training for the United States.

Taipei’s Ministry of National Defense said on the 13th that the content of the assistance will not be commented on because it involves tacit agreement between Taiwan and the United States; The Taiwan military has maintained regular training and exchanges with friendly countries to learn from actual combat experience and enhance overall combat effectiveness, and there has been no major change in relevant practices.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has publicly stated that the military aid projects provided by the US side in this wave do not overlap with Taiwan’s ongoing military purchase projects against the United States; But large UAVs are clearly repeated. It is understood that in response to Taiwan’s purchase of four MQ-9B Maritime Guard UAVs by the US military, the Taiwan Air Force has integrated the flight line transfer officers and some officers who have passed the primary and advanced flight classes to the United States to receive training in changing clothes. The MQ-9A aided by the US military to Taiwan is purely a reconnaissance drone, and the MQ-9B purchased by Taiwan has the ability to hang bombs.

In the future, the purchase of large UAVs from the United States will be compiled into the 12th reconnaissance team of the Taiwan Air Force to replace the RF-5E tiger view reconnaissance aircraft. As for the UAV control base, one said that it is set up in eastern Taiwan, and the other said that there are bases on both the east and west straits. The MQ-9B was originally scheduled to be delivered in 2025, but it was postponed to 2024, and the US MQ-9A should be able to arrive in Taiwan first.

In response to PDA military aid and weapons procurement projects with the United States, the US military has formally established a “Joint Training Group” (JTT) in Taiwan a month ago, which is included in the authority and responsibility of the US Indo-Pacific Command, with the aim of strengthening the joint combat capability of Taiwan’s three services.

The original projects promoted by the services themselves mean that the Taiwan-US military training cooperation promoted by the three armed services of Taiwan, including “Luwei”, “Blue Sky”, “Blue Sea” and “Xianwei”, will be fully controlled by JTT, including the SFAB Security Cooperation Brigade training project under the original “Luwei Project” and the annual troop training program to the United States.

Mei Fuxing, director of the Taiwan Strait Security Research Center in the United States, once commented that the “joint training group” established by the US military in Taiwan functions as the “US Military Advisory Group” (MAAG) in the era of US assistance in Taiwan defense.

However, the Taiwan military said that in addition to training consultants, the US military advisory group also had the business of providing substantial military aid to Taiwan, while the JTT only trained business. It is understood that this training unit has nearly 200 people, which is one of the reasons why the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Taipei office wants to expand the building.

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