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NAVY TO FOLLOW TWO-STAGE PLAN IN SUB PROCUREMENT: OFFICIAL

ROC Central News Agency

2006-11-25 23:04:02

    Taipei, Nov. 25 (CNA) Taiwan will follow a two-stage plan in the procurement of submarines that the United States has offered to sell the island, a ranking ROC Navy official reaffirmed Saturday.

    Speaking at a seminar on the procurement of submarines to build up a dependable defense capability, Vice Admiral Tung Hsiang-lung, Navy chief of staff, said that in the first stage, the Navy will ensure that the submarine design meets Taiwan's defense needs and that the price tag is reasonable before proceeding to actual construction of the subs in the second stage.

    Noting that the government's plans to purchase eight diesel-electric submarines, a squadron of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft and six Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries from the Unites States has been persistently blocked by the opposition-controlled legislature largely due to misgivings about the cost of the procurement, Tung said the two-stage approach will go a long way toward assuaging those misgivings.

    Tung pointed out that at the end of the first stage, the designs and price tag will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for lawmakers' consent before actual construction begins in the second stage.

    The United States has agreed to push for the first-stage work with US$360 million, Tung said. On questions that the money is intended as a "protection fee" for the United States and that Taiwan will have to pay for the submarines regardless of whether the sub designs meet Taiwan's actual defense needs, Tung said "such speculation is unfounded."

    Tung explained that because the United States has not built conventional diesel-fueled submarines for decades, it would be too costly for Taiwan to have the United States design the subs and reopen its productions lines to build them. "To meet Taiwan's defense needs in the most cost efficient way, the best approach is to invite bids from European shipyards to design and build the submarines," he said. "The US$360 million will be used to show European builders that Taiwan is determined to acquire the submarines and to attract them to take part in the bidding," he pointed out.

    The seminar was sponsored by the Institute for Taiwan Defense and Strategic Studies, with several former Navy commanders also attending.

(By Lilian Wu)

enditem/Li