The military does not plan to buy any big-ticket weapons systems over the next two years, unless the offer is "irresistible," a high-ranking defense official told the Taipei Times yesterday.
"Our priority concern over the next two years is to integrate newer weapons systems that we have already bought into the existing combat mechanism. It is not an easy job, because we've bought too many different weapons systems from different countries in recent years," the official said.
"We do not plan to buy any new big-ticket platforms, such as aircraft and warships. But if we are offered items we have been seeking to obtain for years, we will rearrange our priorities," he said.
Aegis-equipped destroyers are one of their big-ticket items. The "irresistible" items to which the defense official referred apparently include diesel-powered submarines, which Taiwan has puts on its weapons wish-list every year for the past few years at the time of its annual arms sales talks with the US.
But the possibility of the US selling Taiwan submarines remains slim for both political and military reasons.
The navy once again expressed its wish to obtain US submarines recently as a Pentagon delegation visited Taipei on a mission related to the annual arms sales talks between Taiwan and the US, to take place in April.
It got the same answer as before from the Pentagon: the US will not re-activate diesel-powered submarine production lines for just one country, according to defense sources.
The military will not put any urgently-needed weapons systems other than the submarines on the purchase list it is to submit to the US. The purchase list for this year includes Kidd-class destroyers, P-3C anti-submarine aircraft, early-warning radar and upgrades for E-2T early warning aircraft.
The military does not plan to buy every item on the list, on which some items remain from year to year and are retained as possible bargaining chips.
A compromise deal reached between the navy and other services involves reducing the number of Kidds to be ordered from four to two, defense sources said. Budgetary constraints affecting the navy are another reason for the reduction.
The Pentagon, though, appears disenchanted with Taiwan's planned scaling down of the Kidd purchase since it is a deal which the two countries agreed to more than three years ago.
The navy is serious about the planned purchase of Kidds -- it is currently building a new military port in Tsoying, Kaohsiung County, of a size and depth that could accommodate what would be the largest-ever warship in Taiwan. The Kidd has a displacement of 9,574 tonnes, twice the tonnage of the operational Knox-class frigate.
The navy does not plan to accept an expected offer by the US to sell Taiwan P-3C anti-submarine aircraft. That offer is expected to be announced later this year.
The navy is ready to accept the fact that it must keep using its aging S-2T anti-submarine aircraft for several more years.
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