Taiwan‘s Ministry of National Defense recently confirmed that Taiwan will purchase additional U.S. Patriot extended-range MSE missiles to enhance high-altitude defense capabilities. However, Taiwan’s Air Force has been corrected by the Supervisory Yuan on Wednesday for failing to comply with the sign-off procedures for the procurement process of logistical maintenance and replacement of original parts for active Patriot missiles.
Taiwan’s Supervisory Yuan’s National Defense and Intelligence Committee meeting on March 18 passed the investigation report and the correction case against the Ministry of National Defense proposed by Supervisory Yuan members Wang Meiyu and Wang Lizhen.
The two supervisors pointed out that in order to maintain the effectiveness of the Patriot III missile, the Ministry of National Defense regularly needs to follow the military procurement method, requesting the U.S. side to update important components and perform “reappraisal”; the cost required belongs to the operation maintenance category, with a budget of about $609 million, but without the approval of the Secretary of National Defense, the Ministry of National Defense applied for a Letter of Offer (LOA) to the U.S. side. The Legislative Yuan did not know about the military procurement case until after the U.S. side announced that it would notify Congress for review. This action has three shortcomings.
Taiwan’s “Patriot III missile reassessment” procurement process flaws were corrected by the Supervisory Yuan
The investigation pointed out that based on the lengthy procurement process, the validity period of the offer until Dec. 31, 2019, the application of the “notification to Congress” procedure, the communist forces’ interference with Taiwan and the pressure to open the case, the Air Force submitted a request for proposal letter to the U.S. on June 25, 2019, “inherent in its considerations “. However, the “Love Triple Appraisal Case” is a large amount of money, did not submit the budget requirements, that is, to submit a letter of request for proposal, vigilance is still insufficient, should be reviewed.
The Supervisory Yuan believes that the operating procedures for the U.S. military procurement case must first include the budget in the five-year governance plan of Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense. However, the current budget is only included through the annual “Operation Maintenance Cost Outline Plan”, which is not reasonable.
Taiwan Air Force spokesman Lieutenant General Chen Guohua said in an interview with this station, in response to the corrective case of the Supervisory Yuan, that the three armies are currently under threat in terms of building military readiness, especially in terms of defense against enemy threats, and will procure all kinds of weapons and equipment, with the aim of strengthening military readiness for war: “With regard to the correction of the Supervisory Yuan, the future Ministry of National Defense will be more rigorous in the relevant procurement procedures. The entire procurement process of the three military commands will follow the regulations and requirements of the Ministry of National Defense in the future, so that the entire military procurement is more effective and more in line with the future needs of military construction and preparation.”
In an interview, Su Ziyun, an associate researcher at Taiwan’s National Defense Security Research Institute, analyzed that the United States will ask each eligible country whether they want to buy together in arms sales, so that the “group purchase” can lower the price. As a result, the contractor of the national army will “buy more” from the balance of the same project. Su Ziyun believes that this is a cost management problem: “The more conservative audit system in Taiwan considers this problematic, somewhat like Taiwan and the U.S. accounting year starts differently. Sometimes military sales are stuck by their own military sales, by the country’s rigid decree.”
Taiwan purchased additional “Patriot III MSE missiles” to improve the defense capability of the first island chain
At the same Time, according to a report sent to the Legislative Yuan by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, Taiwan will purchase additional Patriot III extended-range MSE missiles in order to strengthen Taiwan’s overall defense capabilities, and is scheduled to complete delivery and deployment in batches in 2025 and 2026, according to the Taiwanese media Apple Daily. According to reports, the “Patriot III extended range MSE missiles” are currently only used by the U.S. Army and The Japanese Land Self-Defense Force’s missile units.
Su Ziyun pointed out that the “Patriot III extended-range MSE missile” has two cut-off rockets, which are estimated to reach 50-60,000 meters and cover about 40-50 kilometers downrange. The “Patriot 3” missile covers a greater range of about 20 kilometers, which can increase Taiwan’s mid-air layer, medium and high altitude missile defense capabilities.
The company’s main goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers, and to provide the best possible service to its customers. Arms procurement, especially the cycle of ammunition, procurement and service cycle to maximize.”
Su Ziyun pointed out that in response to China’s increased missile attack capabilities, the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Commander Philip Davidson proposed the “Pacific Deterrence Initiative” (PDI) is the most important to improve the missile defense capabilities of the first island chain, which is a medium- to long-term strategic readiness plan.
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