$6.5B Navy arms deal to Taiwan near complete

The U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin Corp. reached agreement this week on a $1.3 billion deal to refurbish a dozen antisubmarine aircraft for sale to Taiwan, the “last step” forward in a major arms deal stalled since 2007, according to a senior Taiwanese legislative aide familiar with the matter.

“The deal is now going very smoothly,” the aide told Kyodo News on condition of anonymity.

“This is the last step,” he said, referring to plans to ink a contract later this month on refurbishing 12 P3-C Orion aircraft that have already been cleared by the U.S. Congress for sale to Taiwan.

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