|
Sale of additional
PAC-3 units to Taiwan proceeds
By J. Michael Cole / Staff Reporter
Raytheon has signed a US$685.7 million Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract to
provide two additional new fire units of the combat-proven Patriot Air and
Missile Defense System for Taiwan, the company announced.
In a press release last week, the defense contractor said the fire units would
feature new advanced technology, improved man-machine interface and reduced life
cycle costs.
In 2008, Raytheon was awarded a contract to upgrade Taiwan¡¦s existing Patriot
Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) systems, followed by a second one in 2009 for new
systems. The first PAC-3 upgraded radar system was delivered to Taiwan earlier
this year, 10 months ahead of the original program plan requested by the
Taiwanese Air Force.
The new fire units are part of the US$6.4 billion arms package agreed by the
administration of US President Barack Obama in January last year.
In addition to the two fire units, one training unit and 114 PAC-3 missiles were
included in last year's package. This month¡¦s FMS does not include missiles,
which are manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp.
The two batteries are to complete a total of six PAC-3 defense systems. The
first four are to be delivered by 2014 or 2015.
¡§Raytheon¡¦s excellent performance for this customer on current and past
contracts continues to drive trust, as we deliver superior technology and
support for Taiwan¡¦s protection,¡¨ Sanjay Kapoor, vice president for Integrated
Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon¡¦s Integrated Defense Systems business, said
in the press release.
Reports in Chinese-language media in August had claimed that Taiwan¡¦s efforts to
procure the two additional PAC-3 air defense batteries were being jeopardized by
political bickering and a lack of funds, and that failure to conclude a Letter
of Acceptance by the end of this month could result in Taiwan paying much more
than the price option listed for the units in last year¡¦s notification.
However, a representative for Raytheon at the time told the Taipei Times that
negotiations were on track.
Taiwan¡¦s Patriot missile batteries are deployed around Taipei, Greater Taichung
and Greater Kaohsiung.
|
