The Pentagon has increased costs for Taiwan’s early warning radar (EWR), causing much uproar among the island’s legislators, writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News.
Wendell Minnick:
The price for further maintenance of Taiwan’s sole early warning radar (EWR) program just went through the roof. The Pentagon announced an additional maintenance contract on December 7 worth a whopping $290 million. Given the fact that the original price for construction of the EWR on Taiwan’s west coast was only $800 million, Taiwan legislators have already complained bitterly of extensive overruns hitting $1.23 billion.
The Raytheon built facility is designed to warn of an initial missile and air strike from China, which is aiming 1,500 short-range ballistic missiles at Taiwan.
The construction of the radar facility was delayed by mudslides on Leshan Mountain and further unspecified delays pushed costs up. The additional increase will no doubt upset many within Taiwan’s legislature and military who have been pushing for an increase in the defense budget to cover costs of paying for $18 billion worth of arms procured from the U.S. since 2007.
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