The first two of four Kidd-class destroyers could be delivered to Taiwan by 2005 if the Legislative Yuan approves a plan to buy them from the US, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
"The navy is preparing a budget proposal for the purchase of the four Kidds. The spending is to be included in the defense budget bill for next year," ministry spokesman Major General Huang Sui-sheng (
"If the proposed spending is supported and approved by the Legislative Yuan, the first two Kidds are expected to be delivered to Taiwan in 2005," Huang said.
The general made the statements yesterday at the ministry's first regular press conference following the Lunar New Year holiday.
It was the second time that the ministry took the initiative to make public the progress of the navy's ongoing efforts to acquire the Kidds.
The administration of US President George W. Bush announced it would sell the Kidds to Taiwan last April.
The last time that the ministry made information on the sale's progress public was in October, when it announced that the office of the chief of the general staff had approved the navy's request to buy the four Kidds.
That announcement greatly surprised the press since the ministry had previously been tight-lipped on any matters regarding arms purchases.
The ministry broke with tradition again yesterday when it announced its delivery prediction to the press.
"The navy completed in January a second-stage analysis of the Kidds purchase plan. It is now entering the third and final stage of preparing a spending proposal for these ships," Huang said.
After the spending proposal is completed, it is to be included in the defense budget bill for 2003, which is to be sent to the Legislative Yuan for screening and approval in the next legislative session.
The four Kidds are expected to cost NT$25 billion.
The navy plans to use the four Kidds as the flagships of fleets that cruise the seas off Taiwan.
The Kidd-led fleets are to be deployed on waters off the two ends of Taiwan, guarding the northern and southern entrances to the Taiwan Strait, sources said.
The deployment is aimed at off-setting potential sea blockade attempts by China and to prevent Chinese combat ships from approaching the nation's east coast.
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