Initial 2 Kidd class destroyers take their places in ROC fleet

This article was written by Shih Ying-ying and published by the Taiwan Journal on December 16, 2005. It reports that the first two of four Kidd class destroyers that Taiwan purchased from the United States recently arrived at northeastern Taiwan's Suao naval base. It is expected that these destroyers will boost Taiwan's ability to defend itself against China.

The new destroyers are equipped with radar-systems that are capable of simultaneously tracking dozens of incoming airborne threats within a range of 400 kilometers. They are also fitted with Standard II surface-to-air missiles, which have a range of 144 kilometers.

Taiwan was going to purchase various U.S. destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class, which are equipped with the Aegis battle system that is capable of intercepting China's M-9 and M-11 missiles. However, the U.S. government worried that selling Taiwan the advanced Aegis weapons system would be too provocative to Beijing.

According to a report released by the Pentagon in July, China has up to 730 ballistic missiles targeted at Taiwan, and that number is increasing by 75 to 125 per year. The report also said that Beijing's rapid military build-up could soon tip the scales against Taiwan and pose a credible threat to the entire Asia-Pacific region.