Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

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gelgoog

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Well, this is just between you and me, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Taiwanese submarine is "based" on the Spanish S-80 submarine.
The Spanish submarine program has been quite tortuous and they asked for US help. The submarine is more or less on the category of submarines Taiwan is searching for. So I would not be surprised if US contractors Electric Boat, surreptitiously or otherwise, provided that information to Taiwan.
 
S

Skywatcher

Captain
Mr T said:
Could be that the "project cost" is lifetime costs, not the pure cost of building the boats. It looks like the $16 billion figure was reported by AP and then repeated by other media groups, so it's not possible to be sure. If someone can find a statement or budget report by the MND it might put the issue to bed.

The only other comparison I can think of right now is the ROKN's indigenous submarine project, where it was reported that the cost of each submarine would be around $900 million. That might not include weapons, and South Korea would find it much easier to procure equipment than Taiwan would.

The MND classified the items they needed for the submarines red, yellow and green. Red were things they needed to buy from outside Taiwan and yellow were things that would be difficult to get but could be produced domestically. If the cost is as high as AP reported, I expect it's because of yellow-classified items that Taiwan will be making domestically for the first time.
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A better choice would have been to build a bunch of 500-1,000 ton coastal defense submarines (which have pretty good range for any reasonable ROCN operational need).

Adding experimental technologies like lithium batteries isn't a very smart idea either (AIP would be fine for Taiwan Straits operations) since only Japan uses them (I heard China and ROK have similar plans, though not implemented at the operational level), heck the Attack class doesn't even use them.
 
S

Skywatcher

Captain
gelgoog said:
Well, this is just between you and me, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Taiwanese submarine is "based" on the Spanish S-80 submarine.
The Spanish submarine program has been quite tortuous and they asked for US help. The submarine is more or less on the category of submarines Taiwan is searching for. So I would not be surprised if US contractors Electric Boat, surreptitiously or otherwise, provided that information to Taiwan.
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Given the problems the S-60 had, that would be awesome news for the PLAN.
 
Temstar

Temstar

Brigadier
Registered Member
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Speaking of the submarine building project. Days after construction began on the IDS submarine Kaohsiung Submarine Shipyard suffers a major accident. Gas explosion killed one worker on the spot and sent another to hospital with 60% burn. All work have been stopped.
 
Mr T

Mr T

Senior Member
Observa said:
The two types of submarines are not comparable, but a new class of submarines is not cheap to design and develop, as both the Taiwanese and Australians are discovering.
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My thoughts exactly.

gelgoog said:
Well, this is just between you and me, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Taiwanese submarine is "based" on the Spanish S-80 submarine.
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In what way does the design model look like the S-80? All the military experts I've seen comment on it said it looks Japanese, somewhere between an Oyashio and Soryu. I'm struggling to see something about the model that shows they're wrong.

Skywatcher said:
A better choice would have been to build a bunch of 500-1,000 ton coastal defense submarines (which have pretty good range for any reasonable ROCN operational need).
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They might have been useful around a decade ago, but the PLAN has been expanding its blue water capabilities. If the PRC didn't invade Taiwan but established an economic blockade a fair distance away from Taiwan, small submarines would not have the range/endurance to help break the blockade. If for some reason the PLAN was limited to a close blockade around Taiwan I think you'd have a point, but we're no longer at that stage.

Temstar said:
Gas explosion killed one worker on the spot and sent another to hospital with 60% burn.
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That's sad news. I hope that the chap in hospital survives and that the bereaved family gets the support they'll need.
 
siegecrossbow

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
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TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese citizens 1.55 meters and 1.56 meters tall will no longer be allowed to escape military conscription, reports said Wednesday (Nov. 25).

The Ministry of National Defense said the revision of the height limits for new recruits was the result of changes in how warfare was conducted,
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reported.

People taller than 1.96 meters would still be turned down, while eyesight factors and body mass index (BMI) would also play a part in who was accepted or refused.

The minimum BMI stays at 16.5, but the maximum limit allowed by the military would rise from the current 31.5 to 35 under the new rules to be introduced Jan. 22. The BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by his height in meters squared. A range from 18.5 to 24.9 is generally considered healthy.

The military described the alterations as a matter of fairness inspired by a changing strategic environment. Taiwan’s population has been ageing, while the United States has asked the government to make extra efforts to maintain the island’s defense capabilities.
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I don't think that height is as big of a deal as most people make it out to be especially in modern information age warfare. However, relaxing BMI requirements is a bad idea unless they got a routine for whipping them into shape once they join the force.
 
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