Poway’s General Atomics To Build Four Drones That Taiwan Can Use Monitor Military Threats From China

Poway's General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will receive up to $217.6 million to build four MQ-9B SkyGuardian unmanned aerial vehicles for Taiwan, which will use them to help watch for a possible invasion by China.

The money will come from the U.S. Defense Department, which says it will sell the drones to Taiwan to help it maintain its status as a largely self-governing nation. This infuriates China, which says it has jurisdiction over Taiwan and its 24 million people.

Earlier this year, Chinese forces simulated a major attack on Taiwan, trying to pressure the country not to further align itself with the U.S., a long-standing ally. President Joe Biden has said that Taiwan deserves to remain free and vowed to defend it against a Chinese invasion. The U.S. also wants to prevent China from interfering with commercial trade and traffic in the Taiwan strait.

San Diego-based Navy warships have sailed through the strait in recent years as part of a larger U.S. effort to affirm the right of all countries to operate in those waters.

The drones Taiwan will receive from General Atomics are among the most sophisticated remotely-operated vehicles that the company develops. The planes are routinely used for long-duration intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. They also can be configured for electronic warfare, anti-surface warfare and search-and-rescue operations.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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