Taiwan’s Up Media reported that the Pentagon has cleared the sale of the Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned helicopter to Taiwan.

By U.S. Navy photo by Kelly Schindler (www.navy.mil) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

This will make Taiwan the first export customer for the MQ-8B.

The island had wanted to replace its MD500 helicopters with the MH-60R, however, high priority programs such as the indigenous submarine project is eating up the Navy’s budget. Thus, the sailing branch had no choice but to freeze the MH-60R procurement and switch to the Fire Scout instead.

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