None of the purchases came as a surprise, and the actions of both countries followed paths long since established by previous strategic decisions. But the agreements were still of great significance in confirming the trend of growing, rather than weakening military ties between the United States and its traditional allies on the Pacific Rim.

The purchases also reflect the expectation of the governments in Seoul and Taipei that tensions with their neighbors North Korea and the People's Republic of China are likely to grow worse in the coming years.

Raytheon said in a statement Monday that it had won a $79 million Foreign Military Sales award from the U.S. Army to make Patriot Configuration-3 radar upgrade kits and to also make available engineering and technical services for the systems.

The Taiwan Patriot upgrade kits order came only two days after Raytheon announced a $241 million deal with South Korea to manufacture command and control, communications, and maintenance support and training equipment for Seoul's Patriot air and missile defense system.

Both these orders confirmed the current bull market in Patriot PAC-3s and earlier Patriot system upgrades. In February Raytheon stacked up $377 million worth of Patriot and Patriot-related contracts, and another $115 million worth in March. In all that makes a whopping $812 million worth of orders for Raytheon's Patriot systems and related services and upgrades in less than three months.

The February and March orders involved engineering services, missile upgrades and support for the U.S. Army's "Pure Fleet" initiative, Raytheon said in a statement this week.

"There is a growing demand, both domestically and internationally, for Raytheon's combat-proven Patriot system," said Sanjay Kapoor, vice president of Patriot programs for Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.

"These awards for Taiwan are additional indications of the continued expansion of Patriot as the cornerstone of the U.S. and its international partners' integrated air and missile defense systems. Working with the U.S. Army, we are providing Taiwan this increased capability. These upgrades are a testament to the continuing growth and operational flexibility of this premier system," Kapoor said.

Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems remains the prime contractor for the Patriot system and the integration of all its variants. The upgrade kits for Taiwan will be manufactured by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems at the Integrated Air Defense Center, Andover, Mass.; the Warfighter Protection Center, Huntsville, Ala.; and the Mission Capability and Verification Center, White Sands, N.M., the company said.

Raytheon's $241 million deal with South Korea announced Monday came as a U.S. Foreign Military Sales contract. It followed and fits with an engineering services contract with Seoul that was revealed on March 3.

"The Patriot system will provide South Korea with the capability to deploy command and control for the Patriot system and defend itself from the full spectrum of air and missile threats," Kapoor said.

"This award demonstrates continuing domestic and international demand for Raytheon's combat-proven Patriot system," he said. Work on these contracts too will be carried out at Raytheon's plants in Andover, Mass.; Huntsville, Ala.; and White Sands, N.M.

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Next: The strategic meaning of the new Patriot orders