US military officials confirm sale of Apaches

US military officials have confirmed reports that the US has approved the sale of 30 Apache attack helicopters to Taiwan, the first new weapons system the George W. Bush administration has approved since the massive arms sales package agreed to in April last year.

But Pentagon officials say that it will take as long as three years for any of the aircraft to be delivered, and say that final approval still hinges on agreement on technical issues and the cost of the helicopters.

The sale seems to contradict earlier comments by administration officials that the Pentagon section that handles arms sales are so busy dealing with the April 2001 package that they did not have the time to consider additional sales. In the April 2001 sale, the administration rejected Taiwan's request for the Apaches.

A report on the sale was first revealed in an Friday article in a New York-based Chinese language newspaper. While US officials declined to confirm the sales on the record, one Pentagon official told the Taipei Times that the report is "not inaccurate. "

However, the official noted that what the administration has done is made a "policy" decision on the sale, which represents Washington's decision that the sale would meet Taiwan's defense needs, would not hurt US strategically in the area, would comply with US laws, and the like. The other decisions, including those related to technical issues, still have to be made, the official said.

The report confirms stories as far back as February that Taiwan had told Washington it wants the aircraft. One US official recently described the Apaches as "hearty aircraft" 1,000 of which have been exported by the US to Egypt, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Britain. The McDonnell Douglas unit of the Boeing Corp. produces the craft.

The sale will be the first under the new ground rules Bush set at the time of the last big arms sales. In the past, the US sold Taiwan arms in annual packages in April that were well publicized and were the subject to intense press speculations for months before. At the same time as the last big sale, Bush announced that in the future sales to Taiwan will be handled on a case-by-case basis throughout the year, the same way in which Washington handles sales to other countries.

As a result, officials say, the sales will not be officially announced until Congress is notified, which it is only after all details have been worked out.

In addition to the policy decision to sell the Apaches, which the administration apparently made two weeks ago, the Pentagon must work out extensive technical details and the cost must be agree on, noted Brian Knapp, an official of the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which is in charge of foreign weapons sales.

While Knapp would not confirm the sale, he would only confirm that Taiwan sent the agency a letter seeking the cost of the helicopters some two months ago. Such a letter is a first step in any such sale. Knapp estimates that it would take many months before a final decision is sent to Congress, and that the earliest Taiwan would get the helicopters is two to three years from now.

The AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters could be deployed near the coast and used to meet a Chinese attack force at sea as far away from Taiwan as possible before they could land on the island.