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New radar system expected for 2008

A long-range early-warning radar system that the air force is to buy from the US is scheduled to become operational in five years, defense sources said yesterday. The system will be capable of detecting both the ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that China might use in an attack on Taiwan.

The early-warning radar is designed to provide sufficient time for the military to prepare for missile attacks from China, whether of the ballistic or cruise missile type. It would serve as the eyes for the Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile system that the army is to buy from the US.

In a recent closed-door briefing for legislators on the Legislative Yuan's National Defense Committee, the air force expressed optimism about the benefits of the much-anticipated early-warning radar. But one of the legislators who attended the briefing said that if he were a military leader, he would not be so optimistic.

The legislator, who declined to be identified because an agreement with the military prevents him from disclosing the contents of the briefing, said the early-warning radar would be effective only for a short time since it could not detect all of the ballistic and cruise missiles in China's inventory.

"But even considering the limited capabilities of the early-warning radar that the US is to sell us, the system is still necessary for us to defend against missile threats from China," the legislator said.

The air force has not made public what kind of early-warning radar it plans to buy from the US, but two types have been reported to be under consideration. One is the PAVEPAW system, made by Raytheon, and the other is a modified version of Lockheed Martin's SPY-1 radar, which is currently under development. SPY-1 is a radar system for AEGIS-class ships.

The PAVEPAW has a range of 3,000km while the modified version of the SPY-1 has a much shorter range.

A defense official said that a longer-range radar system like the PAVEPAW is much more desirable than a shorter-range, one but that shorter-range systems achieve greater accuracy.

The air force initially planned to buy two sets of long-range early-warning radar but now plans to buy only one because of budget constraints.

The cost of buying two sets of radar has been estimated at about NT$30 billion (US$909 million).

Two deployment sites were chosen over three years ago for the two early-warning radars. One site is in northern Hsinchu County and the other in southern Pingtung County. As the planned purchase has been reduced from two sets to one, the Pingtung site has been abandoned in favor of the one in Hsinchu.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kao Chung-yuan (高仲源), a retired air force lieutenant-general, said that with the long-range early-warning radar, the military could not yet be sure of being able to mount an effective defense against China's missiles.

"We must try to establish satellite links for the anti-missile defense system that is to be comprised of long-range early-warning radar and missile defense systems such as the PAC-III. We do not see the possibility of acquiring such vital satellite links any time soon," Kao said.
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