The army has a long way to go before achieving "full combat readiness" by 2005 -- the goal announced by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) -- analysts said yesterday.
President Chen announced the target on Tuesday during his first inspection trip to army headquarters in Taoyuan.
Analysts further said that the road ahead is strewn with difficulties, either in the form of budgetary constraints or because of indecision about which weapons or equipment should be treated as priorities.
Chang Li-teh (
"Minister of National Defense Wu Shih-wen (
He added that Wu, a former holder of several positions within the top echelons of the navy, "promised to make weapons procurement requests from the army a priority over the next few years," Chang said.
"But even if the army gets bigger budgets, these will still not be sufficient to attain full combat readiness in a matter of five years. The main reason is that it would need to purchase far too many items to achieve that," he said.
"Full combat readiness" in the army involves the troops having all the weapons they need for combat purposes. The army believes the level at which it is currently equipped falls far short of its needs.
For the army to become truly modern by 2005, its leadership plans to buy a wide range of weapons and equipment, including 100 general purpose helicopters, as well as main battle tanks, armed personnel vehicles, thousands of transport trucks and smaller items such as long-range cannons and anti-tank missiles.
Keven Cheng (
"In my view it would be better for the military first to finalize its projection of total troop numbers in the coming years. This is as yet an unknown quantity. Only once it becomes known will we be able to start talking about the goals we want to achieve in respect of combat strength," Cheng said.
Cheng also said that the army's desire to buy a new generation main battle tank (MBT) would not likely be realized because of various political and technical considerations.
"The French initially wanted to sell Taiwan an MBT currently in service in its army. But it has apparently changed its mind after Taiwan named Japan, rather than the EU, as the builder of its planned high-speed railway system," he said.
"The US may consider selling us its M1A1 or M1A2 MBTs. But they are far too sophisticated for us to operate or maintain."
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