The nation's military has signed off on the purchase of four second-hand Kidd-class destroyers from the US worth an estimated NT$25 billion.
According to a defense source yesterday, the office of Chief of the General Staff General Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) last week approved the request to buy the destroyers.
In addition, the purchase of an unspecified number of Standard II air defense missiles to equip the destroyers was also approved.
News of the approval was reported in a Chinese-language newspaper yesterday.
Now that the navy has won permission, it must complete two more procedures before the sale can go through.
The first is a comprehensive analysis of the Kidd-class destroyer and its weapon systems. In the other step, a budget must be prepared to allow for the destroyers' purchase. Both are expected to take several months to complete.
Funds for the purchase are expected to be included in the 2003 budget, a defense source said. The defense ministry's spending plans for next year have already been set, and no extra funds are available.
The US announced its agreement to sell the four destroyers in April, during annual arms talks with Taiwan, but navy leaders were initially divided over whether to buy the ships.
Navy Commander-in-Chief Li Chieh (
After a lengthy tug of war, the Li camp won. A formal purchase request was submitted in August.
According to the defense source, Li was able to win partly because of his efforts in lobbying for support from members of the legislature's defense committee.
Li had asked a subordinate to brief each member of the defense committee about the navy's plans to purchase the destroyers.
According to the source, the lawmakers were told that the navy mostly plans to deploy the destroyers east of Taiwan, rather than in the Taiwan Strait.
The strategy is aimed at extending the navy's range of operations on the open seas, which the navy said would be good for the country from a long-term perspective.
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