Taiwan commissions two Kidd-class former U.S. destroyers

Dec 17, 2005, 17:42 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian commissioned two Kidd-class former U.S. destroyers Saturday and called on the parliament to pass a special budget to buy modern U.S. arms to counter military threats from China.

The commissioning ceremony took place at the Keelung Naval Base northeast of Taipei. The 9,6000-ton ships are the first two of the four Kidd-class destroyers Taiwan has ordered from the U.S., and are the largest warships Taiwan has acquired.

'China has deployed 706 missiles targeting Taiwan. It is strengthening its naval power and has more than 70 battle warships and about 80 submarines, so China poses serious threat to Taiwan,' Chen said.

To counter China's threat, Taiwan must beef up its defences and speedily pass a special defence budget to buy sophisticated U.S. arms, he said.

'If we keep boycotting the budget, (the U.S.) might one day decide not to sell us the weapons. That is a serious problem,' Chen said.

The four Kidd-class destroyers were built for the deposed shah of Iran but joined the U.S. navy between 1981 and 1982, after they could not be delivered to Iran due to the 1979 Iranian Islamic revolution.

They were decommissioned in 1998 and 1999 after having served half of their service life. Since then, the ships have been in storage.

The Kidd-class destroyers are part of a 610-billion-Taiwan-dollar (18.2-billion-U.S.-dollar) arms-sales package approved by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2001.

The sale also includes six PAC-3 anti-missile batteries, eight diesel submarines and 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft.

The Taiwan parliament, however, has been blocking the budget for the PAC-3s, P-3Cs and subs, arguing that the price was too high and delivery too late.

The Kidd-class destroyer can sail at 32 knots. Its radar has a search range of 400 kilometres, while its anti-aircraft missiles have a range of 150 kilometres.