Taiwan seeks military helicopters from US: Papers

Taipei, Apr 11: Taiwan wants to buy 120 attack and transport helicopters from the United States for an estimated US6.95 billion dollars, local media reported on Wednesday, a deal that, if approved, will anger China which claims the island as its own.

Defence Minister Lee Jye has already approved a request to buy 30 Apache AH-64D Block II attack helicopters made by Boeing Co., said the China Times, citing unnamed defence ministry sources.

A ministry official confirmed the government was working on plans to upgrade the island's helicopter fleet, but declined to comment on details.

Any purchase of the helicopters would depend on approval from the Cabinet and, more importantly, the United States, which is the island's largest arms supplier.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, recognising ''one China'', but is obliged by the Taiwan Relations Act to help the island defend itself.

The United States recently deferred approval of a Taiwan request to buy around 60 F-16 fighter jets due to a legislative deadlock that has prevented the government from securing supplementary funds to buy new, cutting-edge weapons.

Taiwan faces a growing military threat from China, which has claimed sovereignty over the self-ruled island since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan back under mainland rule, by force if necessary.

Beijing has over 900 missiles aimed at Taiwan, according to Taipei, and is boosting its military spending by 17.8 per cent this year as it seeks to modernise its armed forces.

Apart from the Apaches, the ministry was also weighing the purchase of 90 utility helicopters and considering either the UH-60 Black Hawk, made by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp or Bell Helicopter's UH-1Y, the paper said.

Bell is owned by Textron Inc.

The military has come under mounting calls to replace its utility helicopter fleet after a series of fatal accidents involving the ageing UH-1H Huey helicopters, the most recent of which killed eight officers last week.

Reuters