Communication system faces test with legislature's Defense Committee

The army is to test again next Wednesday a controversial tactical communication system from the US in an attempt to persuade lawmakers to support the follow-on purchase of the system, defense sources said yesterday.

The test of the IMSE (improved mobile subscriber equipment) is to take place at an army base in Taoyuan's Lungkang under the wary eyes of lawmakers with the legislature's Defense Committee.

It is to be the second IMSE test staged for lawmakers since the system first went into service two years ago.

The first test was held last December. The results were disastrous and resulted in a freeze on the purchase of a second IMSE unit.

The Defense Committee called a special meeting in March to decide whether to unfreeze the budget for a new IMSE unit, estimated to be around NT$2.6 billion.

Unable to reach a consensus on the issue, the committee chose to put the system to the test for a second time and make its final decision based on the results.

During the last test witnessed by lawmakers, the IMSE was down for several hours as communication vehicles moved from pre-selected positions to randomly selected ones. The result showed that the system might not be as "mobile" as claimed.

Despite the limited "mobility" of the IMSE, the army is determined to buy a second unit of the system in line with long-term plans to build a nationwide communication network. The nationwide IMSE network is estimated to cost NT$25 billion.

Major General Li Cheng-ming (李振鳴), in charge of the army's communications department, has told some lawmakers that even if Taipei doesn't buy the second unit, the army is obliged to pay a large sum to the US manufacturer of the IMSE for failure to fulfill the terms of the contract, a KMT lawmaker said on condition of anonymity.

According to current weaponry purchase procedures, the military must acquire the legislature's approval first before signing a contract for arms.

In addition, Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) has issued new guidelines for arms deals with the US, a defense official said.

"Under the new guidelines, any weaponry purchase contract has to be written in both English and Chinese to avoid any sort of misunderstanding on either side. It is also required that any contract be signed in Taiwan," the official said.