The show at the Taipei International Trade Center will run for four days with arms providers hawking various weapon systems, from missiles to anti-missile radar systems.

The annual show offers a look at aircraft and ground support equipment, aero-engine navigation systems, flight control and monitoring systems, aviation material, air transport service and maintenance equipment, defense equipment and technology, airport equipment, aircraft interiors and sport aircraft, the China Post said.

A large arms deal proposed by the administration of Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian has been stalled in the opposition-controlled Legislature. Saying that the opposition Kuomintang, or KMT, has been "procrastinating" in regards to the arms bill, Chen has vowed to add a part of the proposed deal to next year's budget, no longer insisting on the whole purchase.

Chen and other members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have warned that China has been increasingly capable of bombing Taiwan and argued that Taiwan needs more anti-missile technology, the China Post said.

According to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND), China has as many as 700 ballistic missiles aimed at the island and is likely to increase that number to 1,200 ballistic and cruise missiles by 2014.

In order to counter this, the current proposed arms deal with the United States includes PAC-3 Patriot anti-missile systems and PC-3 Orion anti-marine aircraft that are designed to hunt submarines. The PAC-3 and PC-3 systems are manufactured by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin.

Taiwan has already put into service three PAC-2 missile systems, but the Ministry of National Defense says that it will need at least 21 Patriot missiles to be capable of intercepting and destroying the first wave of missiles China might launch.

The MOD has designed a special display at this week's exhibition simulating a cross-strait war, using hypothetical scenarios in which China attacks Taiwan which then employs the Patriot missiles and PC-3 long-range anti-submarine planes.

Visitors will be able to participate by pretending to command the deployment by handing down orders during the "war" and then make a post-war report.

Lockheed Martin plans to give on-sight explanations at the exhibition of the PAC-3 Patriot and PC-3 systems. They will also be showing a number of other weapons systems including the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a surface combatant designed for near-shore warfare.

They will also have radars available such as the Portable Search and Target Acquisition Radar, long-range air surveillance radars, missile defense radar, 3D intermediate-range defense radar and airborne radars.

For defense, anti-missile and weapons systems, Lockheed Martin will be exhibiting their PANTERA (Precision Attack Navigation and Targeting with Extended Range Acquisition) pod, a long-range targeting system; Chaparral Short Range Air Defense Missile System; the Arrowhead Advanced Targeting and Navigation System for the AH-64 A/D Apache Helicopter; Hawkeye Target Sight System; Vertical Launch Asroc (VLA) ballistic missile; 35mm Millennium Gun; Hellfire II Missile; Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) Navigation and Targeting Pod; and the Cobra Radar System

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Germans debate Patriot deal with S Korea

A parliamentary debate in Germany is casting some doubt on the $420-million sale of secondhand, U.S. made Patriot missile systems to South Korea, the official Yonhap news agency has reported.

The German government of Chancellor helmut kohl remains determined to pursue the deal to help pay federal bills, Yonhap said.

The Washington-based weekly Defense News, in an article filed from Munich, said German lawmakers were undecided whether their government should sell such weapons to a country "that is officially located in a crisis area," much to the dismay of the Ministry of Defense.

South Korea last month discussed the possible purchase with a visiting German delegation, Yonhap said. The secondhand U.S. missiles, cheaper than new ones, would boost South Korean air defense capabilities.

According to the German Defense Ministry in Berlin, the deal is worth between $422 million and $483 million. About 80 percent of the revenues from the sale would be applied to Germany's defense budget, the rest to the overall budget, Yonhap said.

"This is critical money which could be used to pay for other procurements," a Defense Ministry official was quoted as saying.

However, the Green Party, the minority member in the ruling coalition, said money should not be the motive for weapons sales. "Decisive must be that a Patriot sale does not promote or prolong tensions," Winfried Nachtwei, defense spokesman for the party, told Defense News.

The final price is still to be negotiated, and the South Korean government is expected to propose a memorandum of understanding to Germany by next month, the paper said. Germany is prepared to negotiate until the end of the year, and deliveries, if the deal is made, would take place toward the end of next year, it said.

A South Korean inspection team is expected to visit Germany in the fall to examine the missiles, Yonhap said.

North Korea is suspected of having developed nuclear weapons and also of possessing ballistic missiles that could reach U.S. territory.

South Korea announced a plan in 2000 to purchase 48 advanced types of U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles, but implementation of the proposal has been delayed amid criticism that it is too expensive and is part of a U.S. scheme to build a global missile defense

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Laser fire control passes tests

Lockheed Martin has announced that the Beam Control Fire Control system it has developed for the Airborne Laser (ABL) program has completed final testing.

The low-power passive capabilities of the Beam Control Fire Control system were successfully demonstrated at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the company said. The current testing program began in December 2004 and the Beam Control Fire Control system met all major requirements during more than 20 flights aboard the YAL-1A aircraft, a specially configured Boeing 747-400F, Lockheed Martin said.

"The ABL Beam Control Fire Control system is one of the most advanced and complex optical systems ever designed," said Linda Reiners, vice president of Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "Through our extensive test activities this year, we have been able to validate the performance of the system in the stressing environment of flight."

The testing verified the Beam Control Fire Control system's target tracking capability and its ability to align the high-energy laser's full optical path in the dynamic environment of flight, Lockheed martin said.

"This major milestone is a testament to the quality and thoroughness of the end-to-end ground testing of the system prior to its installation on the aircraft," said Tom Pavelko, ABL program director, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.

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