| Taiwan's
Patriot missile defence systems to undergo a billion dollar upgrade
14 November 2007
Washington:
The Pentagon has notified the US Congress about a possible sale to Taiwan
of an upgrade to its Patriot missile defence systems, estimated to cost nearly
one billion dollars. The
Defense Security and Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has informed the Congress that
the upgrades would involve ground support equipment for three existing missile
units, which would allow them to be armed with the most advanced Patriot interceptor
missiles. "The
proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining
political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region,"
the DSCA said. According
to Pentagon estimates, China has nearly 1,000 short range ballistic missiles deployed
within striking distance of Taiwan, and is also developing other capabilities
aimed at preventing outside military intervention in the early days of a China-Taiwan
conflict. The
Patriot upgrades will enable these units to launch either Patriot Guidance Enhanced
Missiles (GEM) or Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles. The
GEM missiles use blast fragmentation warheads to destroy an incoming missile,
while the PAC-3 uses a "hit-to-kill" warhead that collides with the
target. Under
the upgrade programme, the missile units will get new radios, radars, target identification
and remote launch systems, and electric power plants, the DSCA said. Interestingly,
the proposed upgrade does not include missiles. "The
total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $939 million,"
the DSCA said in a statement. The
prime contractor will be Raytheon Corporation, of Andover, Massachusetts. Meanwhile,
the proposed sale was attacked by China as sending a "wrong signal"
to Taiwan and its president, Chen Shui-bian, who has rubbed Mainland Chinese sensibilities
the wrong way with his insistence on independence for the breakaway island. Chinese
leaders are concerned that Chen intends to move Taiwain toward "de jure"
independence through a referendum next year on UN membership. China's
foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement that the latest Patriot
upgrade violated a US commitment to reduce weapons transfers to Taiwan, which
Beijing regards as a renegade province. "We
urge the US side to implement with real actions its solemn commitments on the
Taiwan issue... and stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan," he said. He
said the Pentagon announcement constituted "rude interference in China's
internal affairs." "The
Chinese side reserves the right to adopt further measures," he said without
elaborating. Anticipating
Mainland Chinese protests, US defence secretary, Robert Gates, had assured president
Hu Jintao last week, that the United States was "categorically opposed"
to a change of status for Taiwan. He was particular, however, in raising US concerns
about China's military build-up.  China
had earlier, in September, protested strongly after the Pentagon announced the
possible sales to Taiwan of a dozen P-3C Orion anti-submarine patrol aircraft
and SM-2 anti-aircraft missiles, in a deal potentially worth more than $2.2 billion.
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