Taiwan Arms Procurements to be Delayed

Taiwan’s key arms procurements from the US will be delayed due to insufficient finds in the Ministry of National Defence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang has said.

Lin Yu-fang, who also sits on the legislature’s foreign and national defence committee, said the delays were caused by a military budget shortage and the nation’s financial difficulties.

Taiwan’s procurement of six PAC-3 missile-launching systems would be delayed from 2014 to 2017, while the procurement of 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters would be delayed from 2016 to 2019.

The sale of four launchers was authorised in 2008, and Taiwan signed a $6.4bn arms package that included the helicopters and two other launchers in January 2010, according to the Taipei Times.

The Taiwan ministry had reserved $10.74bn in arms procurements for 2011-2014, of which, 61% would be for arms purchases from the US, while the share of domestic procurement will be maintained between 40%-50%.