It is not clear whether the NPR envisions Washington using the AEGIS and PAC-3 as part of a US-controlled system that could be available to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack under the NPR's "immediate contingency" scenario.
The issue could take on increased importance in view of the Pentagon's decision in December to cancel the Navy Area Missile Defense Program because of severe cost overruns that ran afoul of US military procurement laws.
The Navy Area system, which would have been deployed as early as next year, could use Arleigh-Burke class AEGIS-equipped destroyers of the type Bush denied to Taiwan to shoot down missiles in the "boost phase" shortly after launch. Two AEGIS destroyers now deployed in Japan could be used for that. The system would use a naval equivalent of the land-based Patriots, the Standard-2 Block IV missile, which has a 340km range and a blast fragmentation warhead.
In testimony before Congress earlier this month, US Pacific Commander in Chief Admiral Dennis Blair expressed concerns over Taiwan's security as a result of the Navy Area cancellations.
"The recent cancellation of the Navy Missile Area missile systems built on the AEGIS technology I think is a blow in terms of our plans to be able to deploy sea-based forces quickly to the vicinity of Japan, to the vicinity of Taiwan, if ordered, to be able to handle those missiles that threaten those two locations," Blair said in response to questions at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 5.
Blair also said that he is "worried" about China's missiles that threaten Taiwan and which, "in case of conflict, would cause a lot of damage there."
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