Taipei, Jan. 7 (CNA) The United States' de facto embassy here - the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) - confirmed Thursday that the U.S. government has awarded contracts to defense manufacturers to build Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles for Taiwan, which were part of an arms package Washington agreed to sell to Taipei in 2008.
AIT spokesman Christopher Kavanagh said the PAC-3 missiles, which can shoot down oncoming missiles, is part of the US$6.5 billion package of arms that the former administration of President George W.
Bush had agreed to sell to Taiwan in October 2008.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced Wednesday that the contract for the missiles has been granted to Lockheed-Martin Corp.
According to the DOD Web site, Lockheed Martin Corp. was awarded on Dec. 30, 2009, a $968,727,585 firm-fixed-price contract, which included the PAC-3 air defense missile system.