Taiwan Takes Delivery Of First Six Apache Helicopters

Taiwan has received the first six of 30 Apache advanced attack helicopters bought from the US, Taiwan officials were quoted as saying by Defense News.

The six AH-64Es — the latest version of one of the world’s most powerful assault helicopters — were shipped to the southern port of Kaohsiung on Monday, as Taiwan is gearing up to modernize its military despite warming ties with China.

The Taiwanese army will become the first force outside the US to introduce the new model, officials said. Delivery was originally set for October but was delayed by the US government shutdown, media reports said.

A second batch of six is scheduled to arrive in December while the remainder will be delivered by the end of 2014, the reports said.

The 30 advanced Apache Longbow were part of a $6.5 billion arms deal announced in 2008, causing anger in China.

“Although ties with the Chinese mainland have improved significantly in the last five years, they have not changed their military deployments targeting Taiwan. We must not relax our military preparations,” Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan President said last week during a ceremony to introduce P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft.