Taiwan to complete long-range surveillance radar program next year
ROC Central News Agency
2011/11/10 16:21:53
Taipei, Nov. 10 (CNA) Taiwan will complete a long-range surveillance radar system next year, a move to boost the nation's air defenses in the face of military threat from China, officials said Thursday.
The construction of the long-range early warning Surveillance Radar Program (SRP) is set to be fully completed at a military site in Hsinchu County of northern Taiwan in November 2012, said Deputy Defense Minister Chao Shih-chang at a legislative session.
Chao also downplayed concerns that the new radar system may fail to integrate with Taiwan's Patriot missile launch system and link to the Heng Shan Military Command Center, a military emergency facility also located in the north.
"The preliminary tests have showed that there are no problems with the integration between the systems," Chao said at the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Chao's remarks came in response to questions by legislators who expressed concern about the complete integration of the radar and the Patriot missile systems.
Noting that China deploys more than 1,000 missiles targeting Taiwan, Chao said such a radar system is necessary to help strengthen the country's combat readiness in the event of Chinese attack.
The deputy minister's comments were a response to legislator Chang Hsien-yao of the ruling Kuomintang who asked why Taiwan is the only country that has purchased the radar system from the United States.
The radar system was originally set to be completed by the end of this year, but the completion of the project has to be postponed due to some construction problems, according to the Ministry of National Defense. (By Elaine Hou) ENDITEM/npw
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