Washington and Taipei have reached an agreement on how Taiwan's order for eight diesel-powered submarines will be fulfilled, navy officials said yesterday.
The agreement was reached shortly after a team of US specialists came to Taiwan in late September to determine how the subs will meet Taiwan's future defense needs, the navy said.
According to a media report yesterday, the US plans to open bidding for contracts to manufacture the submarines to qualified shipbuilders from around the world. But the subs' weapons systems will be provided by US manufacturers.
The bidding for the contract is expected to be completed in six months.
But the navy refused to confirm the report's claim that the building of the eight submarines will not begin for three years, and that the first of the subs is expected to be delivered in 2010 at the earliest.
The report quoted an anonymous lawmaker on the legislature's defense committee, who detailed a briefing given by Navy Chief Admiral Li Chieh (
The navy was willing, however, to say that representatives from a local defense contractor were in the US for a brainstorming session on the sale, and that Taiwan might have a hand in the submarines' construction.
"Representatives from state-run China Shipbuilding Corporation are attending a meeting today [yesterday] in the US, where qualified shipbuilders from around the world are to be briefed by the US government on its plans to build the eight submarines for Taiwan," Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Wang Chueh (王玨) said.
Yesterday's meeting was to be the first time the US military had met with defense contractors to discuss the plans. The US no longer produces diesel submarines and therefore must look to other countries to help fulfil Taiwan's order.
"We have established cooperation links with the US to push the matter ahead. We have yet to work out the details such as the completion of all sorts of paperwork," Wang said.
Wang made the remarks yesterday at a regular press conference of the Ministry of National Defense as part of his response to press inquiries on the deal's progress.
It was the first time that the navy has spoken openly on the deal since it was announced in April.
Wang declined to further elaborate, although a local Chinese-language newspaper yesterday, quoting the anonymous lawmaker on the legislature's defense committee, revealed much more about the deal's development.
The navy yesterday confirmed that the briefing did take place on Monday.
According to the newspaper report, Li told the committee that the navy is scheduled to receive the first of the eight submarines in 2010 at the earliest.
The timetable is based on the estimation that the construction of the submarines will not begin for another three years, and that building the first submarine will take at least six years.
China Shipbuilding reportedly has a chance at winning the bid.
A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, estimates the likelihood of China Shipbuilding winning the bid as high since it has government support.
"It is hoped that half of the eight submarines would be built in Taiwan, while the rest would be built in the US. It is an arrangement that would serve the interests of the two sides," the defense official said.
China Shipbuilding considers itself capable of building submarines because of its previous warship construction experience and its existing submarine maintenance and repair capabilities.
RSS