The army's plans to buy five electronic warfare systems from the US have been stymied because of American fears of transferring the state-of-the-art technology to Taiwan, according to defense sources.
The intelligence electronic warfare system purchase plan, called the Army Communications Electronic Warfare System (ACEWS) program, is expected to continue despite the US government's refusal to sell the system to Taiwan, the Internet-based English-language Taiwan Defense Review said in its latest issue.
"The ACEWS program ran into a snag in the spring of 2000 when the US National Security Agency [NSA] voiced concerns over the level of technology being considered for transfer to Taiwan," the Review said.
"Based on NSA recommendations, the threshold of signal interception technology deemed exportable to Taiwan was raised," the Review said.
The NSA demanded that the releasable technology be limited to a capability of following up to not more than 300 frequency hops per second, instead of the 1,200 hops per second requested by Taiwan, the report said. After a consultation with the Ministry of National Defense, the army declined to accept the downgraded standards, the report said.
Although NSA intervention killed the deal, the army is expected to reissue the request for the systems in the future.
The army initially planned to buy the ACEWS units as a US designated "foreign military sale," but it is now inclined to buy the equipment as a commercial sale from a different source when it reissues the ACEWS request.
Buying the ACEWS as a commercial sale would presumably open the market up to non-US suppliers, many of whom would not be bound by the NSA's restrictions, the Review said.
However, whether changing the designation of the sale or not will make the US more likely to sell the units to Taiwan is unclear.
The ACEWS solution being sought by the army is similar in concept and architecture to the US Army's Prophet Ground system, but it is said to incorporate a number of more advanced capabilities. ACEWS is intended by the army to serve as the principal electronic warfare asset for its field army commanders and also as a primary means for commanders to gather situational awareness on the battlefield.
The system would also allow commanders at the combined arms brigade and division levels to improve intelligence preparations for both air and ground battlefields, offer battlefield visualization, target development and force protection capabilities.
At this stage, the army plans to deploy the ACEWS as an experimental ground intelligence-electronic warfare unit -- the 71st Signals Group of the Sixth Field Army in northern Taiwan -- as well as two other field armies on the western side of the country. It may plan to buy additional systems to support other territorial defense commands such as those in eastern Taiwan, and in both the Penghu and Kinmen archipelagos.
The original ACEWS package was announced in May, 1999, as a US$64 million foreign military sale package, covering the purchase of five intelligence electronic warfare systems as well as five single-channel ground and airborne radio systems and five high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles.
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