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Air Force denies wasting billions on rescue choppers

ROC Central News Agency

2012/01/21 20:36:53

Taipei, Jan. 21 (CNA) The Air Force denied a report Saturday that it had squandered NT$3.2 billion (US$106 million) by purchasing search-and-rescue helicopters that were not capable of fulfilling their missions.

A magazine report claimed that the three New Puma EC-225 search-and-rescue choppers ordered in February 2010 and delivered to Taiwan last November did not have the right specifications and were a complete waste of taxpayer funds.

But the Air Force said in a statement that the procurement of the New Puma EC-225 search-and-rescue choppers met the Department of Health's (DOH's) new air ambulance management regulations and insisted that the choppers were professional air ambulances.

The helicopters were purchased according to the Government Procurement Act, the statement said, with Sikorsky and Eurocoptor participating in the public tender.

The price offered by Eurocoptor for its EC-225 model was much lower than Sikorsky's offer for its S-92 and saved 16 percent of the budget devoted to the project, the statement said.

The air ambulance can provide emergency medical care equivalent to an Intensive Care Unit, and take care of one critically ill patient and one patient with moderately severe symptoms, or 14 patients with mild injuries at the same time, the statement said.

Electronic navigation devices will not be affected by the electronic medical devices on board, so flying safety is not a big problem, the statement said.

The magazine report also charged that some of the components in the newly purchased New Puma EC-225 choppers were made in China, but the Air Force denied that, saying the contract was clear on "banning the use of Chinese parts," the statement said.

Eurocoptor, a wholly owned subsidiary of European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., one of the three largest aerospace groups in the world, has confirmed that the helicopters' systems or their components were not made in China, the statement said.

(By Paijhihtapang and C.J. Lin)
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