US unveils arms sales to Taiwan

The US has announced plans to sell Taiwan nearly NT$18 billion in weapons and military services in one of the biggest sales packages in recent years.

In a series of four notifications to Congress, the Pentagon said it plans to sell a large number of missiles, amphibious personnel craft and a wide-ranging equipment maintenance program.

The notifications of the sales, which must be approved by Congress, came as members returned from a month-long summer recess and one month before Congress is scheduled to recess in advance of November elections.

The timing would give Congress time to approve the sales, so they can be processed while lawmakers are out of session, a Pentagon official said.

In money terms, the biggest sale would be 54 rebuilt amphibious vehicles and related equipment with a value of US$250 million. These would replace Taiwan's aged and non-supportable landing vehicle tracked fleet, to improve its counter-landing capability and self-defense posture, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the Pentagon's foreign sales arm, said in its notification.

The sale is routine, defense officials say, since all amphibious craft have to be replaced periodically.

Also planned is the US$60 million sale of AGM-114M3 Hellfire II air-to-surface anti-armor missiles. The sale would consist of 449 missiles and related equipment, which would be used on Taiwan's AH-1W Super Cobra and OH-58D helicopters to enhance the military's anti-armor capabilities.

In addition, the Pentagon plans to sell 182 AIM-9M-1/2 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles worth US$36 million to replace existing AIM-9s missiles and help maintain Taiwan's air-to-air defensive capabilities. Taiwan already owns US-supplied AIM-9 missiles.

To some US military sources, the most significant sale would be US$174 million's worth of maintenance of repairable materials to support various military aircraft, radar and missile systems already supplied by the US.

This would provide maintenance and spare parts to various fighter jets including the F-16A and F-16B, the F-5E and F-5f, the C-130H and indigenous fighters. It would also support MPN-14 and GE-592 radar systems, AIM-120 missiles, Pathfinders and Sharpshooters, jet engines, communications equipment and other US-made equipment.

The sale apparently would be the first under an agreement signed by Taipei and Washington last year that gives Taipei preferred access to spare parts and other maintenance items. The agreement, called a Cooperative Logistics Sales and Stockpile Agreement, is an open account similar to a line of credit that allows Taiwan to draw on parts as they need them, quickly and on favorable terms, according to US officials.

"That really shows a lot of planning and fiscal responsibility by the Taiwanese," says one Pentagon official. "What they get is US government oversight and quality control with minimal overhead."

"Countries that are really smart about their procurement of maintenance open these accounts," he said.

When foreign militaries draw on such accounts, they are considered "the same as a US government activity. If they ask for a part, they are accorded the same weight as the US Air Force or US Navy. So it's a real good way for a nation that has a high level of interoperability with the US government -- and has a relatively sophisticated maintenance infrastructure," the official said.