Taiwan to receive four sub-hunter aircraft by year's end
ROC Central News Agency
2013/07/14 21:04:04
Taipei, July 14 (CNA) Taiwan is set to take delivery of four submarine-hunting aircraft purchased from the United States by the end of this year, which are expected to bolster the country's anti-submarine capabilities, the military said Sunday.
The four P-3Cs will comprise the first batch of a total of 12 of the aircraft set to be delivered by the end of 2015.
The 12 anti-submarine aircraft and other associated equipment and services, worth US$1.96 billion, are part of an arms deal valued at US$2.23 billion that the U.S. announced in 2007.
The military has built a facility at an air base in the southern county of Pingtung to accommodate repair and maintenance, as well as pilot training, for the P-3Cs.
More advanced than the 26 S-2T anti-submarine aircraft Taiwan has had since 1986, the P-3C can stay operational for up to 12 hours, far longer than the four hours the S-2T can operate at a time. The P-3C has a range of 2,800 nautical miles compared with just 450 nautical miles for the S-2T.
(By Rogge Chen and Scully Hsiao)
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