Over the next 10 years, the military is prepared to allot around NT$600 billion for the procurement of a variety of weapon systems from the US and another NT$100 billion for engineering projects for the three armed services, defense sources said.
The navy will get about 50 percent of the NT$600 billion budget to buy and upgrade its weapons.
The army will receive nearly 30 percent of the budget, while the air force will get the remainder.
The air force will get the smallest proportion of the NT$600 billion budget because it has already spent more money over the past decade than the other two services by purchasing three new types of fighter planes, including the F-16A/B, the IDF and the Mirage 2000-5.
The navy will have the first priority to use the military's budget for weaponry procurement in the coming decade.
Items on the navy's shopping list will include eight diesel-powered submarines, 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft, an unidentified number of MH-53E helicopters, four Kidd-class destroyers and an unknown number of AAV7-A1 amphibious assault vehicles. The eight submarines will be the most costly investment for the navy, at about NT$210 billion.
The 12 P-3C aircraft will be the second most expensive items for the navy. They are estimated to cost nearly NT$100 billion.
The four Kidd-class destroyers, though not as costly as the submarines or P-3Cs, are considered to be of no less importance to the navy since they are expected to greatly expand the navy's area of operations.
They are estimated to cost around NT$28.4 billion.
The army also has a lot to buy, such as the AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter, the Patriot PAC-III air defense system and the M109-A6 self-propelled howitzer.
These three items have been approved by the US government for sale to Taiwan.
The army has not given up its plan to buy the M1A2 main battle tank, although the US government has yet to give its approval for the sale.
The army plans to buy around 30 AH-64Ds at a cost of around NT$40 billion to arm its third airborne brigade -- the 603rd brigade.
The Patriot PAC-III air defense system is to be bought over two to three installments at a cost of over NT$100 billion.
Though the army will receive the least amount of money in the coming decade, it may become the next biggest recipient of arms build-up funds after 10 years. The military usually works out its arms build-up plans in 10-year cycles.
The army's plans for the years beyond the coming decade are to develop full-scale off-shore strike capabilities, which require longer-range weapons systems.
One of the options that the army has in mind is to establish a short-range surface-to-surface missile force armed with missiles with a range of less than 300km.
The Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology of the military is now developing a kind of missile that will meet the army's demand for the projected missile force.
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