Taiwan is to decide by the end of the year if it will buy the P-3 patrol plane. If it does, this will restart the Orion production line, which would make the proposed P-3X design too cheap to pass up as a replacement for the existing P-3C fleet. Some in the Navy want to buy P-3X, but others want a new aircraft based on the Boeing-737 and if Taiwan buys the Orion this would doom that plan.--Stephen V Cole
