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ROC'S PLAN TO ACQUIRE SUBS GOING SMOOTHLY: DEFENSE MINISTRY

Jul 21, 2002 17:57 UTC+0800

Taipei, July 21 (CNA) The spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Sunday that the government's plan to procure submarines is being implemented smoothly as scheduled.

Maj. Gen. Huang Suey-sheng made the remarks while commenting on a local newspaper report that a U.S. military team visited Taipei recently to discuss submarine sales to Taiwan. Huang told reporters that the United States and the Republic of China have set up task forces on the sale and procurement of submarines, respectively.

"Consultations have been conducted smoothly in line with the plan," he noted.

According to the newspaper report, the U.S. side said that Taiwan can select the submarines from one of two sources -- a German submarine maker which is partially owned by the U.S. side or the Israeli submarine maker which manufacturers the Dolphin-class diesel submarine.

The report said that during the recent Taipei negotiations, the U.S. side asked Taiwan to select the types of submarines and related weaponry systems it wanted to acquire so that it could bring the data back to the United States for assessment.

The report said that the final decision on procurement of the submarines will come from the Presidential Office and added that some high-ranking officials, including National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Antonio Chiang, are believed to have visited the United States and Israel over this issue.

As it will take about three years to complete discussions on the deal and about another five years to build the submarines, the report said that the ROC Navy will not obtain the newly-designed submarines, which will cost about NT$150 billion each, until after 2010.

A recent Pentagon report indicated that Taiwan currently has only two submarines that are mission ready, while the People's Liberation Army has some 60 attack submarines at its disposal to impose a naval blockade.

It said that as a result of a series of reforms, the ROC Navy has shrunk from approximately 55,000 personnel to 45,000, while at the same time preserving its basic organizational structure, fleet size, and mission focus on countering blockades and defending sea lines of communication.

The report admitted that the ROC Navy has benefited from several important hardware acquisitions from abroad, and, as a result, its fleet contains a number of relatively new platforms with enhanced combat potential.

(By Victor Lai)