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New missile ready soon: Lee Jye

Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) said yesterday that the military is close to producing a new weapon that can attack enemies' airports.

"It is a air-to-surface missile with standoff capability which could be used in attacking the enemy's airports," Lee said during a meeting of the legislature's National Defense Committee.

Lee's comment was the first official confirmation of the development of the weapon under the "Ten Thousand Sword" plan by the ministry's Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

According to previous media reports, the weapon is a kind of cluster bomb, able to operate from ranges outside enemy defenses.

Lee also told lawmakers, in response to questions, that he prefers the US build the eight diesel submarines that are part of the long-delayed arms procurement budget.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) asked why the country needed to spend around US$12 billion to buy eight diesel subs from the US, citing an article in the Feb. 13 edition of Defense News (a leading international news weekly covering the global defense industry) that said European countries could build eight conventional subs for around US$5 billion.

Lin noted that US Representative Rob Simmons, who visited Taipei last month, had said the price for the eight subs could drop to around US$8 billion.

"The US has not exported its subs to other countries, and I believe that US subs have many high-tech systems not known to the outside world, so I firmly believe the US can make better quality subs for Taiwan than Europe," Lee said.

Since the US has not built diesel subs for about 35 years, it plans to find a European country that is willing to build the eight subs for Taiwan once the legislature passes the procurement bill, Lee said.

However, Simmons, who met Lee last month during his visit, has said that US Electric Boat has declared itself capable and willing to produce a series of advanced diesel submarines for Taiwan.

The minister also agreed yesterday with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Wen-chung's (李文忠) proposal that top sub experts from around the world be hired as consultants to decide how much money the country should pay for the eight vessels.

Only such a consultancy could resolve the current standoff, Lee Wen-chung said.

Lee Jye said the ministry would ask for a supplementary budget to cover preliminary spending on the subs, such as consultants' fees.

The ministry has previously said that the submarine budget was arrived at by the US Navy through an independent cost estimate system in January 2003, and that the US Navy has refused to negotiate on the budget before the submarine purchase is approved by the legislature.

Lee Jye said he would press the US to separate the cost of designing the subs from building them.
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