The marine corps is scheduled to receive by the end of next year the first three of 54 AAVP7-A1 assault amphibious vehicles that it has ordered from the US, defense sources said yesterday.
The first three AAVP7-A1s are to be used for training purposes so that the marine troops that are to operate these vehicles can be better prepared when the AAVP7-A1s formally enter service.
The rest of the AAVP7-A1s -- 51 in all -- are to be delivered between 2004 and 2005.
These AAVP7-A1s are to arm a reinforced battalion of the corps. They can replace an older type of amphibious vehicle which the corps has used for several decades.
After the deliveries of the AAVP7-A1s are completed, the marine corps is to purchase another type of weaponry -- the MH-53E helicopter.
Armed with the AAVP7-A1 and the MH-53E, the marine corps is expected to greatly improve in its ability to launch surprise attacks against China, which is indisputably Taiwan's primary potential enemy.
A general with the marine corps, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there is no need to conceal the fact that the AAVP7-A1 is to be used mainly against China.
"We have selected several sites along China's southeastern coast as the targets for amphibious assaults in the event of an armed conflict between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait," the general said.
"The AAVP7-A1 will be very useful in operations of this kind. It can help us deter China's possible use of force against Taiwan," he said.
"Although we might not be able to launch a large-scale amphibious assault against high-value targets along China's coastline, we are confident that our operations will achieve great psychological effects against the Chinese military."
The 54 AAVP7-A1s are to cost the marine corps NT$6.1 billion, marking the most expensive military investment that the corps has made in recent years.
The proposed budget for the purchase of these vehicles in 2003, the deal's first year budget, was passed by the legislature just last week. However, some lawmakers are still skeptical of the need for the marine corps to buy the AAVP7-A1s.
One suck skeptic is KMT lawmaker Lin Nan-sheng (林南生), who said he wonders whether the marine corps needs to buy as many as 54 AAVP7-A1s if its purpose is just to harass China's southeastern coastline.
Lin also wondered if the marine corps was being over-charged by the US for the AAVP7-A1s, which are to cost more than NT$90 million each according to the deal the corps has signed.
The marine corps, in response, admitted that the unit cost might be a little high, but that it has made efforts to reduce the price for each AAVP7-A1 from more than NT$100 million to NT$90 million-plus.
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