Taiwan is unlikely to scrap its US-based training program for its F-16 pilots for the sake of cutting costs, the Air Force General Headquarters (AFGH) said yesterday.
The AFGH was responding to a foreign wire service report that quoted the British military journal Jane's Defense Weekly saying that Taiwan had informed the US Department of Defense that it will call off the F-16 pilot training program.
According to an article to be published on Wednesday, Taiwan will cancel the US-based F-16 pilot training program from October in a bid to cut costs. The program costs US$30 million a year.
Commenting on the report, an AFGH official said Taiwan is now negotiating a new pilot training contract with US authorities.
"Against this backdrop, we are unlikely to abruptly discontinue the existing training program. The so-called Oct. 1 deadline for canceling the training program is groundless," the official said.
According to AFGH sources, Taiwan first signed a pilot training contract with US authorities after the Pentagon agreed to sell it 150 F-16 fighters. The second contract is set to expire at the end of 2005.
Under the contract, Taiwan sends a squadron of air force pilots annually to the US Air Force's 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Base in Arizona to receive flight training.
The AFGH official said the latest pilots left for the US in August.
"As the existing contract will expire next year, we are negotiating a new one," the official said, adding that it's impossible that the government will phase out the US-based pilot training program.
In related news, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) opposes the government's plans to build its own submarines for defense, TSU Legislator Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) said yesterday.
Chen, a TSU party whip, said that the party supports increasing the weapons procurement budget but opposes Taiwan building domestically the submarines that the US has promised to sell it.
Chen said that the TSU is against the self-build plan on the grounds that it would be cheaper to buy the subs from abroad.
In addition, he argued, Taiwan would at most be granted permission to build the hardware aspects of the subs, as presumably neither the US nor any other country would provide Taiwan with the advanced technology needed.
US President George W. Bush made a huge arms sales offer to Taiwan in 2001, agreeing to sell the nation eight diesel-powered submarines, 12 anti-submarine airplanes, four Kidd-class destroyers and 388 Patriotic PAC-3 missiles.
The US has been watching whether a special budget for the deal, particularly the budget for the subs, will be passed by the legislature, which will meet beginning Friday.
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