Washington, Sept. 28 (CNA) The U.S. Department of Defense on Thursday announced the proposed military sale of AIM-120C air intercept and RGM-84L Harpoon missiles, howitzers, and communications equipment worth a total of US$1.31 billion to the Republic of China.
Asked to confirm the sale, a spokesman for the ROC Ministry of National Defense said that the ministry never comments on military sales.
Meanwhile, ROC Premier Tang Fei told legislators at a national budget interpellation session that the announcement "should be a fact" and that the sale will not be a burden to the government's already grim financial situation because the items "are within the controlled budget limit."
Among the items listed in the proposed sale are the 200 AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles that the ROC Air Force has been requesting for several years to ensure its air supremacy. In fact, according to air force sources, the U.S. Defense Department had already agreed last year to begin installing AIM-120 fire control software on the ROC's F-16 fighters.
Military sources also pointed out that the US$150 million AMRAAM sale came with an offset agreement when it was approved in April. According to the agreement, delivery of the missiles would not take place until mainland China had acquired missiles with similar capabilities.
However, the sources said that another offset agreement obliges the United States to deliver the missiles immediately if tensions begin to escalate in the Taiwan Strait.
According to the U.S. Defense Department announcement, the 200 AMRAAM's come with 292 LAU-129 missile launchers, along with missile containers, aircraft modification and integration support, spare and repair parts, maintenance and pilot training, publications and technical documents, U.S. government and contractor technical assistance, and other related elements of logistics support.
The most expensive item on the list is a follow-on upgrade of the Improved Mobile Subscriber Equipment communication system. At an estimated cost of US$513 million, the vehicle-based digital communications system will form the backbone of the ROC Army's move toward digital battlefield technology by providing secure tactical voice and data communications service to all echelons of its field military forces.
The IMSE system is already in use by the ROC Army's northern Taiwan-based Sixth Field Army.
According to the U.S. Defense Department, implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of 18 U.S. government and 35 contractor representatives to Taiwan for periods ranging from one month to three years.
Other items include 71 RGM-84L Harpoon missiles, 146 M109A5 155mm self-propelled howitzers, 79 M2 machine guns, six M88A2 recovery vehicles, 160 AN/PVS-7B night vision goggles, and related elements of logistics support.
The various ground defense equipment and the self-propelled howitzers will add to the ROC Army's standing inventory of M109A5's at the cost of an estimated US$405 million, while the Harpoon missiles will cost US$240 million.
According to the U.S. Defense Department, the Harpoon missiles will be installed on the ROC Navy's Perry-class frigates to maintain an anti-ship defensive capability. Taiwan's Knox-class frigates are currently outfitted with the same missiles. (By Jay Chen and Fang Wen-hung)
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