CHINA'S MILITARY MIGHT
Taiwan: Armed to the teeth
By David Isenberg

The recent hullabaloo about the United States allowing the transfer of AMRAAMs (advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles) to Taiwan in response to mainland China's acquisition of AA-12 Adder air-to-air missiles appears to be a case of not seeing the weapons-procurement forest for the missile trees. In fact, Taiwan is in the midst of a robust weapons-modernization program and can expect much more from the United States in the future.

In March, James Kelly, US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, said to a conference on arms sales to Taiwan: "We want to hear from Taiwan about the defensive capabilities it assesses that it will need in the medium to long term. We are looking for a free-flowing exchange about challenges to Taiwan's security and a forward-looking dialogue," making clear that the George W Bush administration sought the closest military and political ties with Taiwan of any US administration in decades.

And the US government has quietly agreed in principle, according to a recent article in the US trade weekly Defense News, to allow more arms sales to Taiwan, a pledge that goes beyond its April 2001 promise to sell Taiwan four Kidd-class destroyers and 12 P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft, and to broker a deal to provide eight diesel-electric submarines, which the US defense industry no longer manufactures. That deal was the biggest with since President Bush's father, former president George Bush, sold 150 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan in 1992. Taiwanese officials have expressed keen interest in buying the most advanced Aegis-equipped destroyers. A Taipei delegation recently inspected one such destroyer stationed in Virginia, the report said.

Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Kau Ying-mao confirmed last month that the US has approved the sale of a fleet of AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters, the US army's most sophisticated choppers. This serves as confirmation of the reports in February that Taiwan's army had accepted a proposal presented by the US that Taiwan needs to set up a third mobile brigade comprising Apache choppers.

On June 4, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Taiwan of three AN/MPN-14 air traffic control radars and associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as US$108 million.

It was also reported in June that Taiwan is to receive 11 Lockheed Martin long-range early-warning tactical radars to boost its air defense capability against China. The deal comprises seven AN/FPS-117 long-range radars and four AN/TPS-117 tactical transportable radars, according to Jane's Defence Weekly. The radars normally have tactical ballistic missile detection, tracking and anti-missile system cueing capabilities. The FPS-117 is a 3-D Doppler-type radar with maximum altitude search of 30 kilometers and a 300km maximum range, the weekly said.

Over the years since August 2, 1992, when the United States decided to sell 150 F-16 jet fighters to Taiwan, the United States has sold several billion dollars' worth of weaponry to Taiwan. They include 18 S-70 anti-submarine helicopters, 42 AH-IW Cobra armed helicopters, 26 OH-58D survey helicopters, five E-2T AWACS (airborne warning and control system) planes, 40 T-38 trainers, 10 S-70CM anti-submarine helicopters, three ocean-going towers, four MSOs (minesweepers, ocean); six Knox-class escorts and two Newport-class landing ships - which Taiwan leased from the United States - 450 M-48HI tanks and 410 M-60A3 tanks; Patriot, Sting, Hawk and Standard air defense missiles; TOW (tube-launched optically tracked wire-guided) and Hellfire anti-tank missiles; Harpoon anti-ship missiles; and MK-46 anti-submarine torpedoes. And there are also the 60 Mirage 2000 jet fighters that France sold to Taiwan.

Currently US experts are teaching a group of Taiwanese Air Force pilots a midair refueling technique that would give them the ability to bomb Beijing. The US Air Force has posted a photograph on its website of four F-16s from the 21st Fighting Squadron, a US unit created to train Taiwanese pilots, refueling from a KC-10 Extender over southern Arizona recently.

Northrop Grumman Corp is in talks with German submarine maker Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG, which has raised concerns in Germany that the United States may eventually use the relationship to sell diesel-powered submarines to Taiwan. Northrop is the biggest naval-ship maker in the US but doesn't make the kind of non-nuclear submarines manufactured by HDW. The Bush administration promised to supply such submarines to Taiwan last year.

Questions about Northrop's interest in HDW stem from the recent acquisition of a 75 percent stake in the German company by a division of US financial concern Bank One Corp. One Equity Partners, a subsidiary of Bank One, purchased a majority stake of HDW for an undisclosed price from German engineering giant Babcock Borsig AG, which continues to own 25 percent of the ship maker.

It is worth noting that despite numerous reports about the buildup of China's military capabilities, the Chinese military still suffers significant limitations. In its latest Annual Report on the Military Power of The People's Republic of China, the Pentagon noted that "China retains the world's largest military, yet it lacks the technology and logistical support to project and sustain conventional forces much beyond its borders." For example, with regard to its air force, "Although the PLA [People's Liberation Army] has approximately 34,000 aircraft, only about 100 are considered modern fourth-generation fighters."

Also, given publicity about high-profile arms sales from Russia to China, it is worth noting that the Pentagon report said it would not confer any immediate advantages. "Russian arms sales are expected to have a significant impact on China's ability to use force against potential adversaries such as Taiwan. However, the full impact of these sales will not be apparent until China fully integrates its new hardware and technology. China probably will require many years of training and doctrinal development to reap the full benefit of the equipment purchased thus far."

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