LockMart begins refurbishing P-3C for Taiwan

http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/268/

07:04 GMT, March 16, 2009 defpro.com |Lockheed Martin has received a U.S. Navy contract for the refurbishment of 12 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft worth $665 million, the Pentagon confirmed on Friday. The aircraft will be upgraded for a government-to-government contract with Taiwan to replace the aging Northrop Grumman S-2T anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft.
In December, 2007 the Pentagon informed the U.S. Congress about Taiwan’s request to purchase the P-3C Orion maritime spy aircraft in a government-to-government agreement. It was, however, part of a major defence purchase strongly backed by former President George W. Bush.

In October, 2008 the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) approved a major defence agreement that includes a military equipment delivery worth $6.46 billion to the Taiwan. The agreement contained 30 AH-64D Block III APACHE Longbow Attack Helicopters, PATRIOT Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles, HARPOON Block II missiles and Javelin missiles which provoked a protest by China. However, political considerations caused a suspension in finalizing the deal.
This changed after the new U.S. President, Barack Obama, said he would seek to boost defence ties with Taiwan. Soon after taking office, Obama pushed for the fulfillment of the P-3C deal with Taiwan. In February, 2009 the U.S. Navy announced it had reached a tentative refurbishing agreement, which has since been signed, along with the recent contract with Lockheed Martin.

The contract work will be undertaken by Lockheed Martin Corp., Maritime Systems and Sensors Tactical Systems, based in St. Paul, Minnesota. The contract calls for new avionics, or electronic brains, and service life extension kits to extend the aircrafts’ service life for an additional 15,000 flight hours, Tierney Helmers, a spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors business unit, told Reuters.

The first upgraded P-3C aircraft is now on track for delivery to Taiwan in 2013, while the last will arrive in 2015.

The turboprop-driven P-3 is the primary maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft deployed by the U.S. Navy, as well as 18 international allies. Its mission radius includes maritime patrol, reconnaissance, anti-surface warfare and anti-submarine missions.

According to DSCA, from 1950 to 2006 Taiwan received $18.3 billion in U.S. weapons as part of the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
Dennis Blair, US National Intelligence Director, said during a Senate committee meeting on February 12: “Taiwan should not be so defenseless that it feels it has to do everything China says. That means we’re going to have to help them some more in order to maintain a balance.”

Beijing strongly opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan since China sees the island as part of its territory, even though the two sides have been ruled separately for 60 years.

Source: http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/268/