A US defense contractor yesterday denied local reports that efforts by Taiwan to procure two additional PAC-3 air defense batteries were jeopardized by political bickering and a lack of funds.
The Chinese-language United Daily News on Monday wrote that since the US had agreed to sell two additional Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) systems in January last year, the military had had difficulty raising enough money to complete the deal, as the cost of acquisition allegedly exceeded the military’s budget by as much as 40 percent.
The report cited military sources as saying that the military had lobbied the Pentagon to lower the price for the two batteries on several occasions, but that little progress had been made, adding that the Ministry of National Defense would have to increase its budget for the acquisition and that delivery could be deferred.
Photo: Reuters
US authorities have warned Taipei that if it failed to make any progress by the end of this year, the purchase price could be -invalidated and subsequent orders could be higher, the report said.
The two firing units are part of the US$6.4 billion arms package agreed by the administration of US President Barack Obama in January last year. In addition to fire units, one training unit and 114 PAC-3 missiles were included in the US$2.8 billion deal.
The two batteries are to complete a total of six PAC-3 defense systems sought by Taiwan following notification in October 2008 of four fire units and 330 PAC-3 missiles for US$3.1 billion.
At the heart of the alleged funding shortfall is the three-year boycott by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of the NT$120 billion (US$4.14 billion) budget for the missile defense program in the legislature from 2004 until 2007, the paper said. When the budget was finally released in 2007, Taiwan discovered that the unit cost for the PAC-3 system had gone up substantially. Legislators later claimed that cost overruns, estimated at US$800 million, were added to a draft of the letter of acceptance (LOA) for the 2008 deal, resulting in further delays.
Contacted for comment, an official at Raytheon, the US defense firm that manufactures the Patriot ground systems, said it was their understanding that the purchase of the two fire units was “on track.”
That position was echoed by a US-based source familiar with the situation, who told the Taipei Times last night that the program was in the final stages and on schedule to be signed this fall.
The ministry on Monday denied the reports and said it was proceeding with the purchase.
Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp, the maker of the “hit-to-kill” PAC-3 missile, are the two principal firms involved in the sale.
Taiwan is scheduled to field the first four PAC-3 batteries by 2014. Raytheon is also in the process of upgrading Taiwan’s three PAC-2 missile batteries, acquired in the 1990s, to PAC-3 configuration.
The ministry was forced to deny similar rumors in May after KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) claimed that budgetary issues could force delays to three major procurement programs — UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters and the PAC-3 batteries.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,