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TWO PURCHASED KIDD-CLASS DESTROYERS TO ARRIVE IN TAIWAN IN DECEMBER

ROC Central News Agency

2005-10-25 17:45:25

    Taipei, Oct. 25 (CMA) Two of the four Kidd-class destroyers Taiwan has purchased from the United States are expected to arrive in the country in December and to be commissioned at Suao, Ilan in northeastern Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesman said Tuesday.

    In view of a resolution passed by the Legislative Yuan that the names of the new destroyers be related to Taiwan, the warships will be renamed "Keelung," "Suao," "Tsoyin" and "Makung," the spokesman said.

    Taiwan purchased the four destroyers at a cost of NT$24 billion in June 2003. Taiwan naval officers and seed instructors, as well as repair and maintenance technicians have received training in the United States to prepare for the vessels' delivery.

    Two of the destroyers are expected to be handed over to the ROC Navy on the east coast of the United States at the end of this month. The other two are expected to be handed over in March 2007.

    The Navy said it hopes that the four destroyers will form the "outer peripheral" of the fleet, while its Perry-class, Knox-class and Lafayette-class frigates will play an "inner circle role."

    The Kidd-class destroyers will be used to target enemy planes that have fired missiles, leaving other vessels to deal with the incoming missiles.

    The Taiwan authorities submitted a shopping list in 2001 that included top-of-the-line U.S. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with the Aegis radar system. However, the Bush administration only approved the sale of the much older Kidd-class destroyers.

    The purchase led to a fierce debate in Taiwan. Opponents of the purchase included members of the legislature's powerful defense committee, which made several attempts to block the sale. Critics cited the ships' age -- they were built in the late 1970s -- and their high cost, and suggested that Taiwan should push the U.S. to release the Aegis system sooner.

(By Lilian Wu)

ENDITEM/Li