Legislators from across party lines yesterday said the Ministry of National Defense's proposed budget for the purchase of eight diesel-electric submarines from the US was too high, with one lawmaker leaving the vice minister embarrassed after disputing figures the ministry provided.
"It makes no sense for the country to procure a diesel submarine at a price of two to 2.5 times that of a regular diesel submarine sold in the international arms market," Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Wen-chung (
US estimate
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Vice Minister of National Defense Hou Shou-yeh (
Hou said that after including training and logistic costs, the purchase of weapons systems and factoring in estimated inflation, the ministry had proposed a budget of NT$288 billion (US$8.65 billion) for the eight submarines.
The figure works out to about US$1.08 billion per vessel.
Hou also provided examples of other countries' submarine procurement contracts and said that submarine costs fluctuate.
Hou said that Malaysia, India and Chile have all purchased French-built Scorpene class submarines, but because of differences ranging from the vessels' tonnage, power systems, weapons systems and when the contract was signed, their prices differed.
Hou added that according to Jane's Defence Weekly, while France had sold Chile Scorpene-class submarines for US$250 million it had charged India US$540 million each and Malaysia had paid US$580 million for the sub.
However, People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
Details
Lin said regarding India, the ministry had quoted a Jane's Defence Weekly article that was published on Aug. 17, but the article also said the US$580 million price included a penalty fee that the two countries had agreed to negotiate on that the ministry had purposely failed to mention.
In addition, Lin said, according to the Sept. 23 edition of Jane's Navy International, France has agreed to waive the fee, so the submarine's price will be US$400 million.
Lin also said that under its contract with Malaysia, France sold the country two Scorpene-class submarines for US$580 million each, but had also offered an Agosta-class submarine for training for free.
Lin said that the ministry had purposely concealed the information to promote its proposed budget for the submarines.
An embarrassed Hou acknowledged that the ministry's data was outdated.
"The ministry made a mistake and it should have offered new data," he said.
The submarine procurement deal has long been stymied. The budget for the subs is included as part of the special arms budget bill, which has been blocked 30 times in the legislature.
China appears to have built mockups of a port in northeastern Taiwan and a military vessel docked there, with the aim of using them as targets to test its ballistic missiles, a retired naval officer said yesterday. Lu Li-shih (呂禮詩), a former lieutenant commander in Taiwan’s navy, wrote on Facebook that satellite images appeared to show simulated targets in a desert in China’s Xinjiang region that resemble the Suao naval base in Yilan County and a Kidd-class destroyer that usually docks there. Lu said he compared the mockup port to US naval bases in Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan, and in Subic Bay
Police are investigating the death of a Formosan black bear discovered on Tuesday buried near an industrial road in Nantou County, with initial evidence indicating that it was shot accidentally by a hunter. The bear had been caught in wildlife traps at least five times before, three times since 2020. Codenamed No. 711, the bear received extensive media coverage last year after it was discovered trapped twice in less than two months in the Taichung mountains. After its most recent ensnarement last month, the bear was released in the Dandashan (丹大山) area in Nantou County’s Sinyi Township (信義). However, officials became concerned after the
The majority of parents surveyed in northern Taiwan favor the suspension of all on-site classes at schools from the junior-high level and below amid a surge in domestic COVID-19 infections, parent groups said yesterday. About 84.4 percent of respondents in a survey of 2,912 parents in northern Taiwan, where the outbreak is the most serious, said they supported suspending classes, the Action Alliance on Basic Education, the Taiwan Parents Protect Women and Children Association, and the Taiwan Love Children Association said. The groups distributed questionnaires to parents in New Taipei City, Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan and Hsinchu city and county from Saturday morning
DETERRENCE: US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell said cross-strait affairs are on the agenda at the US-ASEAN Special Leaders’ Summit The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked the Czech Senate for passing a resolution supporting Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO and other international organizations for the second consecutive year. The resolution was passed on Wednesday with 51 votes in favor, one opposed and 11 abstentions. In addition to the WHO, it also called for Taiwan’s participation in the “meetings, mechanisms and activities” of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the International Civil Aviation Organization and Interpol. In its opening, the resolution states that the Czech Republic “considers Taiwan as one of its key partners in the Indo-Pacific region,” while noting its
RSS