Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

plawolf said:

A little late to the party, but I am also of the opinion that the M1 deal is a bad idea. Especially now that it has transpired the tanks in question are the basic M1A1s rather than more modern variants.

Basically Taiwan is getting a super heavy tank that is ill suited for their terrain, which is just about on par with the PLA mainstay Type 96 in terms of sensors and electronics, and distinctly inferior to the PLA top dog Type 99.

Worse still, these M1A1s are scheduled to start coming on line after the PLA next gen super heavy Type 99A2 (or whatever its official designation really is), which will pretty much outclass them in every measureable category.

All this deal will do is basically recreate the mismatch in tank power previously with the M60 vs Type 96/99 in the future.

Seems like bad value for a billion dollars.

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Taiwan's coast guard on Saturday commissioned its biggest ships for duty in the form of two 3,000-ton patrol vessels, as the island boosts defences amid concerns about

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's growing footprint in the disputed South China Sea.

The new vessels will be able to dock at a new port being constructed on Taiping Island, the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, before the end of this year.

Taiwan's coast guard has had direct oversight of the 46-ha (114-acre) island, also known as Itu Aba, since 2000.

"Taiping Island's defence capabilities will not be weak," said Wang Chung-yi, minister of the Coast Guard Administration, referring to recent upgrading done on the 1,200-metre (yards) long airstrip on Taiping and the building of a new port, which he said could be completed as early as October this year.

"As far as Taiping Island is concerned, we still maintain not so much a military as a civil role," Wang told Reuters in an interview in Taipei. Taiwan will not create conflict, but if it is provoked "we will not concede," he said.

Unlike the Philippines and Vietnam, Taiwan has largely avoided becoming ensnared in public disputes with China over the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.

Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, while the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have overlapping claims.

Rival claims by Taiwan and China go back to before defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war with the Communists in 1949.

Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province to be retaken one day and bans actions that would confer sovereignty, such as negotiating territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou boarded one of the new ships on Saturday, observing rescue drills in waters off the southern Taiwan port city of Kaohsiung.

One of the vessels will be sent to the South China Sea, while the other will be assigned to waters north of Taiwan where it has overlapping claims with

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.

Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Saturday that Group of Seven leaders meeting in

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on Sunday would express their concern over any unilateral action to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas.

China has been criticized for extensive reclamation work and moves to turn submerged rocks into man-made structures. The United States last week said Beijing had placed mobile artillery systems in contested territory.



(Editing by

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)

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

get ready for the "Gold Plated Jokes" looks like they want to sell the latest display model of the XT-105 to a Middle Eastern dictator although with Saddam and Qaddafi dead I can't think of a buyer.... may be some Drug lord. but it's intended for issue to Taiwan's armed forces (presumably in a less ostentatious finish)

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Taiwan unfazed by China warning on casinos in Kinmen

The president of Taiwan’s legislature, Wang Jin-pyng, has pledged to move forward with plans to allow a casino to open in the Kinmen Islands, reported the government-run Radio Taiwan International.

Mr Wang’s comments came after Beijing warned against such plan.

On Sunday, the director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun, said in such an event China would revoke the direct transit, shipping and trade links between the Taiwan-controlled island chains of Kinmen and Matsu and the neighbouring mainland China ports of Xiamen and Fuzhou in Fujian province.

The main island of the Kinmen group – also called Kinmen (pictured) – is approximately 10 kilometres (6.5 miles), and thus a short ferry ride, from Xiamen.

In 2009, Taiwan passed a law that in principle lifted a prohibition on casino gambling on its outlying island chains of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu. A condition was that the local populations would need to approve such activity via local referenda. In one such poll in July 2012 the residents of the Matsu island chain voted in favour of casinos to help attract tourists.

Despite Beijing’s opposition regarding Kinmen – the Taiwan island chain geographically closest to the mainland – Mr Wang said Taiwan’s legislature must now come up with laws to regulate such a proposed gambling industry, Radio Taiwan International reported.

Mr Wang however said that the decision on whether to build casinos on Kinmen would be up to investors.

The success of Taiwan’s casino industry could depend on mainland China’s visa policies, Eugene Christiansen, chief executive of Christiansen Capital Advisors LLC, said in a conference panel at the Macao Gaming Summit in November.

“The industry there [Taiwan] could be heavily influenced by visa policies in mainland China and on whether Chinese will be able to visit casinos in Taiwan,” warned Mr Christiansen.

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Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) showcased its Hsiung Feng 3 (HF-3) supersonic anti-ship missile in its first appearance at the Paris Air Show in 12 years.

Since its establishment in 1969 NCSIST has been Taiwan's primary weapons developer and manufacturer. In 2014 it transformed into a quasi-commercial corporation intended to foster greater international and civil technology co-operation.

At Paris NCSIST displayed models of recently developed missile systems currently used exclusively by Taiwan's armed forces. Generating most interest was a model of the ramjet-powered HF-3 ASM. While they did not reveal performance data (although IHS Jane's has previously reported it has a speed of Mach 2.0 to 2.3 and a range of 81 n miles), NCSIST officials called the HF-3 "our Sunburn" - a reference to Russia's Mach 3 speed, 120 km-range Raduga Design Bureau P-270 (3M80 Moskit, Nato reporting name 'Sunburn').

NCSIST officials admitted that the HF-3 had generated a lot of interest but no sales leads in Paris. They also said that while there is no requirement so far from Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND), vertically launched and air-launched versions of the HF-3 could be developed. Currently the HF-3 arms some Taiwanese naval vessels in deck-based canisters.

Also on show was the Ray Ting-2000 (RT-2000) 12-round wheeled multiple launch artillery rocket (MLR) system. The RT-2000 operates from a MAN TG (8x8) series truck and can be configured to launch MK 15 (117 mm), MK 30 (180 mm), and MK 45 (230 mm) rockets, with the figure of 15, 30, and 45 indicating the range of the rocket in km. At Paris, NCSIST officials said a guided 'sensor-fused munition' version is in early development.

The Tien Kung II (Sky Bow 2, or TK-2) surface-to-air-missile (SAM) was also displayed. NCSIST officials called the more recent TK-3 "our Patriot PAC-2", referring to the Raytheon system, which is also in Taiwanese service. NCSIST officials said the TK-2 and TK-3 missiles use active radar guidance systems.

IHS Jane's has previously reported that the TK 3 will replace MIM-23 HAWK missiles from 2015 to 2024, according to the MND, and will be integrated with the PAVE Phased Array Warning System (PAWS) and Patriot air defence systems to help provide medium- and long-range air defence.

NCSIST also showcased the TC-2N, a vertically launched naval version of the active-guided Tien Chien IIA (TC-2A) anti-radiation medium-range air-to-air missile, which is believed to have a dual-mode design that incorporates passive RF and infrared sensors.

According to NCSIST officials, the only discussions that could lead to a possible sale concerned its 330 kt speed, 30-40 minute endurance Spark target drone.

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Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has

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its two biggest ships for duty at an induction ceremony held at Hsinbin Wharf on June 6.

The 3,000-ton patrol ships, Yilan (CG 128) and Kaohsiung (CG 129), will boost the CGA’s maritime patrol and search-and-rescue capabilities and help protect Taiwanese fishing boats as well as Taiwanese fishermen, and assist in combating illegal poaching activities.

One of the patrol ships will be deployed in the South China Sea, while the other will be send to the East China Sea,

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reports.

The induction ceremony was presided over by President Ma Ying-jeou and followed up by the CGA’s biennial naval exercise involving a total of 21 patrol vessels and boats – including the Yilan and Kaohsiung – as well as four helicopters. The drill was held in waters off Kaohsiung City in the southwest of Taiwan.

According to IHS

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, there have been delays in the commissioning of the two vessels due to issues with the ships’ shafting among other things. There were also safety concerns over the operation of UH-60M Black Hawk search-and-rescue helicopters from helipads aboard the ships.

The Yilan and Kaohsiung were launched from Jong Shyn’s Kaohsiung Harbor in February and April 2014 respectively. The total cost for the two vessels is estimated at NT$5.214 billion (US$171.37 million).

“According to IHS Jane’s Fighting Ships, each vessel is armed with one 40 mm and two 20 mm guns. Specifications provided by the CGA indicate a maximum speed of 24 kt and a standard range of 10,000 n miles. Besides naval guns, the vessels are also said to each be equipped with one water cannon,”

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reports.

The specific technical configurations (e.g., the ship’s weapons and radar systems) remain unknown.

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notes that the vessels will be able to dock at a new port constructed by Taiwan on Taiping island – the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and administered by the Republic of China.

Wang Chung-yi, minister of the Coast Guard Administration

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that “Taiping Island’s defense capabilities will not be weak, adding that “as far as Taiping Island is concerned, we still maintain not so much a military as a civil role.” He also insisted that Taiwan “will not create conflict, but if it is provoked “we will not concede.”

Since 2008, Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration

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in a 37-ship building program totaling 17,000 tons at a cost of approximately NT$ 24 billion ( $ 782 million). At the conclusion of this of this construction program, Taiwan will field a 36,000-ton heavy coast guard with 173 vessels.

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