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Navy to sign Kidd deal, report says

Old stock: * Critics say the second-hand warships, which would need to be armed and outfitted, would prove a "bottomless pit" of spending and that the 9,000-tonne warships could easily become targets in any Chinese attack. * The sale was agreed to by the Bush administration in April last year and is part of the most comprehensive arms package to Taiwan for almost a decade.

A navy delegation is travelling to the US to sign a deal to buy four Kidd-class destroyers, a report said yesterday.

The contract, worth about NT$26 billion (US$800 million), will be signed when a group of top naval officials visits the US, possibly today, a Chinese-language newspaper said.

"It is understood the budget will be set aside in four years beginning in 2003," if the deal is approved by the legislature, the paper said.

The navy declined to comment on the report.

Critics say the second-hand warships, which would need to be armed and outfitted, would prove a "bottomless pit" of spending and that the 9,000-tonne warships could easily become targets in any Chinese attack.

The planned purchase also does not yet have legislative approval, with legislators divided over whether the Kidds will be worth the cost.

The navy insists it needs to boost its anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and anti-missile capability and would only spend NT$1.65 billion a year maintaining the destroyers.

That compares with the NT$1.9 billion annual bill for maintaining its current fleet of seven Gearing class destroyers built in the 1940s, which will be retired once the Kidd-class vessels arrive.

The first destroyer is scheduled to be delivered in July 2003, with the remaining three to be delivered by 2005.

The Kidd-class destroyers, the sale of which was agreed by the George W. Bush administration in April last year, were part of the most comprehensive arms package to Taiwan for almost a decade.

Also included in the offer are eight diesel submarines and 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft.

The deal, which infuriated China, followed a two-year US review of Taiwan's air force and navy.
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