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Military retains plan to procure 60 Blackhawk choppers

ROC Central News Agency

2009/08/30 17:35:02
Taipei, Aug.30 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Sunday it will go ahead with its original plan to procure 60 U.S.-built Blackhawk helicopters, but will allocate 15 of them to the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) for disaster relief work.

"We reached that decision after consulting with the Interior Ministry," the MND said in a news statement.

The MND's decision was a departure from President Ma Ying-jeou's announcement at a news conference Aug.18 that the military will buy 45 instead of the 60 Blackhawks originally planned and will reassign NT$10 billion of its procurement budget for the purchase of disaster relief choppers and relevant equipment.

Ma's announcement came after an aging UH-1H helicopter from the MOI's National Airborne Service Corps crashed into a mountainside and slid into a valley near the aboriginal settlement of Sandimen in southern Taiwan's Pingtung County Aug. 11 while on a mission to help victims of Typhoon Morakot. The three crew members aboard the helicopter were killed in the crash.

The tragedy reawakened calls for the government to modernize and invigorate the country's emergency relief capacity and facilities.

The MND said in its statement that it has decided to stick to the original number of Blackhawks because this will allow it to acquire the new helicopters in the shortest possible time at the cheapest possible price.

Noting that it has finalized all the preparatory work for the procurement deal, the ministry said any change in the quantity could lead to delivery delays and price adjustments.

The MND further said it will give the first 15 Blackhawks delivered by the U.S. contractor to the National Airborne Service Corps for rescue and relief operations.

"In peacetime, the 15 Blackhawks will mainly operate rescue or disaster relief missions, but in wartime, they will be drafted for combat missions, " according to the MND. "This way, our combat preparedness will not be affected while our national resources can be used to the fullest." The MND said it will work out further technical details regarding the use of the 15 helicopters, in collaboration with the Interior Ministry.

The UH-60 Blackhawk is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft.

Stressing that the Blackhawk is a multi-functional utility chopper, the MND said acquisition of the new choppers will help upgrade both the country's disaster relief operations and military logistics support.

The National Airborne Service Corps has long used aging, single-engine UH-1H choppers provided by the military for post-disaster rescue and relief operations. The aircraft are not suitable for operations at sea or in high mountains. The corps has been pushing for the purchase of new helicopters.

(By Sofia Wu) enditem /pc