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Taiwan In Talks With US Firms On Military Copter Deals: Jane's
Taiwan is in talks with US companies to purchase dozens of attack and transport helicopters and upgrade the AH-1W Super Cobra attack fleet serving the army, Jane's defense weekly said. "Taiwan and Bell Helicopter-Textron have launched talks on co-manufacturing UH-1Y Huey light utility and AH-1Z King Cobra attack helicopters to fulfil Taipei's requirement for 35 and 30, respectively, of the aircraft," the London-based publication said in an article to be published on August 24. If the deals go ahead, the UH-1Y would replace part of the army's fleet of Bell UH-1hs, which are nearing the end of their service life after 32 years, it said. Bell is also proposing Taiwan's army upgrade its 63 Bell AH-1W Super Cobras, acquired in the 1990s, to AH-1Z configuration, the weekly said. US-based Sikorsky is competing with Bell for the deals. The weekly said Sikorsky was proposing its UH-60 Black Hawk to replace Taiwan's UH-1H fleet. Sikorsky also has a track record in Taiwan, whose navy operates two squadrons of Sikorsky S-70C anti-submarine warfare helicopters acquired in the 1990s. A third competitor is Boeing, which is proposing the AH-64D Apache Longbow to fulfil the attack helicopter requirement. "However, the company is still suffering political fallout after closing the door of its Seattle plant to Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu in August 2003," it said. Lu had planned to visit the 747-400 production line following a 2002 order by China Airlines for 10 aircraft. Boeing was keeping a low profile in Taiwan, a source involved in the Apache negotiations told the weekly, and was "terrified of losing the China market". The company's Taipei representative refused an interview request. China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence, prompting Taiwan to seek advanced weaponry. The United States has remained the leading arms supplier to Taiwan despite its switching of diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links SinoDaily Search SinoDaily Subscribe To SinoDaily Express 
Taiwan Holds Military Drill Ahead Of China-Russia Wargames
Taipei(AFP) Aug 18, 2005Taiwan Wednesday staged a military exercise simulating an invasion by rival China, one day before Beijing and Moscow launch rare joint exercises. |
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