TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) on Monday (May 8) confirmed that talks are underway with the White House on using fast-track authority to provide a weapons package worth US$500 million (NT$15.34 billion) to Taiwan.

On Saturday (May 6), Bloomberg reported that the Biden administration will be using the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), the same authority that is being used to accelerate the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2023, US$1 billion has been allocated to Taiwan through the use of the PDA.

This fast-track authority has been employed more than 35 times for Ukraine, according to a source cited by Reuters. This tranche of weapons would be provided free of charge, similar to the model of military aid to Ukraine, per Liberty Times.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) issued a press release on Saturday in which it said it is optimistic about the success of the planned use of the PDA to provide arms to Taiwan. Prior to a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign and National Defense Committee on Monday (May 8), the media asked Chiu if the U.S. would follow the Ukrainian model to provide free military aid to Taiwan.

Chiu said that what was reported in newspapers is not counted as "arms sales." He said it has been widely reported that there have been delays in arms sales, and it is possible to substitute the yet-to-be-delivered weapons with arms in existing U.S. stocks or other alternative methods.

The minister said examples would be simulators and related ammunition and the use of existing weapon stockpiles in place of new systems within a certain price point. Chiu said that weapons shipments valued at less than NT$500 million would be provided.

During the Legislative Yuan's meeting, KMT lawmaker Chiang Chi-chen (江啟臣) asked whether the Biden administration intends to use the US$500 million in military aid to Taiwan in the same way as the Ukrainian model. Chiang asked whether the U.S. is in talks with Taiwan over the model and whether the extended-range version of the Patriot missiles would be included in the package.

Chiu said Taiwan is already in discussion with the U.S. over the package but that the Patriots are not included. He said the deal is meant to compensate for delays in the delivery of weapons systems with priority given to the use of existing stocks.

According to Chiu, the acquisition of these arms will not entail the use of funds allocated for weapons purchases. The MND's wartime regulations bureau chief Lee Shi-chiang (李世強) told lawmakers that the timing of the military aid would be announced by the U.S.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research, was cited by CNA as saying that US$500 million could be used to buy about 3,000 Javelin missiles, 6,000 Stinger missiles, 500 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, or 120 MIM-104F (PAC-3) Patriot missiles. Based on recent U.S. aid to Ukraine since Russia's invasion last year and the US$500 million figure, Su estimates that the aid will mainly consist of missiles.