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White House may allow early delivery of AIM-120 advanced air-to-air missile

The administration of US President George W. Bush may let Taiwan take delivery of advanced air-to-air missiles originally sold on condition they not be delivered straight away for fear of triggering an arms race, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

At issue is the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM, which could be deployed on Taiwan's US-built F-16 fighter fleet. Taiwan contracted for 120 of the combat-proven missiles in 2000. They are now in production by Raytheon Co.

"Our policy requires that these missiles not be released to Taiwan unless there is evidence that China has similar missiles as part of its operational inventory," said Defense Department spokesman Air Force Major Jay Steuck.

"Our policy is under review," he said. "No decision has been made" on whether the missiles will be sent.

Word of the policy review follows China's reported testing last week of a similar "fire-and-forget" missile, the AA-12 "Adder" built by Russia. Once fired, such missiles use an active radar on board to guide them independently.

The Washington Times, the first to report the test-firing, cited US defense officials as saying two Russian-built Su-30 fighters had used the weapons to destroy target drones.

Any deployment of the AA-12, known as the R-77 in Russia, would significantly enhance Chinese combat capabilities against Taiwan's air force, defense experts said.

In Taipei, Major General Peng Chin-ming (彭進明), head of the air force's operations bureau, told reporters on Tuesday that Taiwan was ready to take delivery of the AMRAAMs and confirmed the Chinese test of its Russian equivalent.

Steuck, the Pentagon spokesman, declined comment on the reported Chinese test-firing, citing a policy of not discussing intelligence matters. Asked about the release of the AMRAAM to Taiwan, he referred a caller to the State Department, which oversees government-to-government US military sales.

The State Department had no immediate comment, said a spokesman, Frederick Jones.
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