TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The United States State Department has notified Congress it wants to sell a US$180 million (NT$5.53 billion) package including Volcano anti-tank mine dispensing equipment to Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday (Dec. 29).

According to past practice, the deal is likely to be approved by Congress and take effect one month after the notification, the Liberty Times reported. The system is highly mobile and rapidly deploys land mines targeting enemy tanks and armored vehicles, helping Taiwan’s military bolster its asymmetric warfare capabilities.

While the Volcano system also comes in a helicopter-based version, the M136 equipment offered to Taiwan will be mounted on M977 trucks. The sale amounted to the eighth U.S. defense deal with Taiwan since the Biden administration took office in Jan. 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement.

Following China’s large-scale live-fire drills in August, Taiwan proposed a defense budget for 2023 valued at a record NT$586.3 billion, an increase of 13.9% compared to the previous annual budget.