Taiwan takes delivery of last two of four US destroyers

Aug 25, 2006, 3:08 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan has taken delivery of the last two of a purchase of four Kidd-class destroyers from the United States, a newspaper said Friday.

The two destroyers, coded Tsoying and Makung, will leave Saturday on a journey from the US to Taiwan to join the Taiwan Navy, the Liberty Times quoted an unnamed military source as saying.

The paper said that though the Kidd-class destroyers are the largest warships in the Taiwan Navy, they also pose big problems because they must return to the US for repairs, as Taiwan does not have large wharves.

The destroyers are part of a 610-billion-Taiwan-dollar (18.2- billion-US-dollar) arms sale approved in 2001 by US President George W Bush.

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

Taiwan took delivery of the first two Kidd-class destroyers and commissioned them in December.

The 9,600-tonne Kidd-class destroyer can sail at 32 nautical miles per hour. Its radar has a search range of 400 kilometres, while its anti-aircraft missiles have a range of 150 kilometres.

Although the Kidd-class destroyers have boosted Taiwan's defences against China, Taiwan faces a growing military threat from China - one of the largest military powers in the world.

China has 50 submarines - including eight Russian-made diesel- electric subs - compared to Taiwan's four.

On Wednesday, Taiwan's internet newspaper ETToday.com reported that China had taken delivery of a fourth Sovremenny-class destroyer from Russia, and it would pass through the Taiwan Strait in a few days.

As the Sovremenny-class destroyers pose a threat to Taiwan and the US, both the US Navy and Taiwan Navy will closely monitor the warship's passage through the Taiwan Strait, ETToday said.