Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

kliu0 said:

Now back to the topic, weren't the Europeans reluctant to selling sub tech to Taiwan?

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Taiwan appears to have given up on a 2001 U.S. offer of eight diesel submarines and instead will develop an indigenous vessel, although U.S. technical support may still be needed, a former Taiwan defense official said. An announcement is expected in August, sources here said.

Sources say the move is due to U.S. reluctance to build diesel submarines and the need to create jobs in Taiwan's economically depressed shipbuilding industry.

"If Pakistan, South Korea and Japan can build a submarine, then Taiwan can do it," said the former defense official.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) also plans to upgrade its six French-built LaFayette-class (Kang Ding-class) frigates and procure two additional minesweeper patrol vessels from the United States.

Taiwan procured four U.S. Aggressive-class minehunters in 1994, and there are discussions about acquiring two U.S. Osprey-class coastal minehunters.

The U.S. submarine offer has faced political hurdles here and in Washington. The United States was expected to release a Foreign Military Sales notification for the first phase of the program in 2008, but the release was deferred to the next administration for unknown reasons. The first phase, or design stage, was expected to cost $360 million. The second phase, or build stage, was estimated at $10 billion.

Taiwan's earlier insistence on new submarines has been a focal point of controversy and complication. The United States has not built new diesel submarines since the Barbel-class in 1959, and Taiwan's insistence on new boats has only increased the challenge.

The United States offered Taiwan a cost-effective solution in 2003 when Italy offered to sell eight decommissioned Sauro-class diesel submarines for only $2 billion. Delivery would have begun in 2006 after the United States refurbished the vessels. However, Taiwan rejected the offer and continued to insist on new submarines.

Further complicating the issue, a special budget for submarines was held up in the legislature for six years due to political infighting between elements supporting independence from China and others supporting unification.

"Any move by the Ma administration to examine alternative acquisition routes for diesel submarines should be welcomed," a former Pentagon official said.

However, many ask whether the self-governing island can build a complex platform like a submarine.

"The question is not whether Taiwan can or cannot make submarines. Colombian drug runners can make submarines," the former Pentagon official said. "The question is, how sophisticated of a submarine could Taiwan industry produce" without U.S. assistance?

Taiwan's state-owned China Shipbuilding Corp. (CSBC) has successfully built naval vessels. CSBC built eight Perry-class (Cheng Kung-class) frigates under U.S. license in the 1990s and is constructing 29 Kuang Hua VI-class missile boats armed with Hsiung Feng 2 (Brave Wind) anti-ship missiles.

Kaohsiung-based CSBC pushed for an indigenous submarine program in 2001, but was unable to get MND support. The design for the Hidden Dragon Program, later known as the Indigenous Defense Submarine, was based on the Argentinean TR-1700 and the Norwegian Ula-class Type 210.

Taiwan operates four submarines: two Dutch-built submarines from the 1980s and two U.S. Guppy-class submarines built during World War II. The Guppies are the oldest operational submarines in the world.

Frigate Upgrade

Plans for upgrading the LaFayette frigates are expected to begin in 2011-12, a Taiwan source said.

However, the "French are out" of the upgrade program, the source said. The original 1991 French procurement was mired in scandal after a Taiwan naval officer was murdered and allegations arose that more than $500 million in bribes were paid to French, Taiwanese and mainland Chinese officials.

"The old French system is going to be replaced with a locally designed command-and-control system," a source said. The Hsiung Feng 2 will remain, but there is debate on what will replace the RIM-72C Sea Chaparral air defense system. Both the Raytheon RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile system and an indigenous naval version of the Tien Chien 2 (Sky Sword) air defense system are being discussed.

The military-run Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology produces a variety of missiles, combat systems and radar. The military can also turn to the state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corp., which built the Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft. CSBC has built both military and civilian vessels, and repairs and rebuilds civilian cargo ships and oil tankers.

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kliu0 said:

Shouldn't it be 30 instead of 29 Kwang Hua VI ships?

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Defense News

04/20/09

Taiwan Fears Air Power Reduction, Vulnerability to China

By Wendell Minnick

TAIPEI — Taiwan military officials are growing more anxious as requests to the United States for new F-16s, denied since 2006, remain in limbo. Without the new fighters, the balance of air power across the Taiwan Strait will shift in China’s favor, say sources here and in Washington, as Taiwan’s Air Force prepares to retire aging fighter aircraft and mothball others.
 The result could be the closure of one, possibly two, fighter wings.


Since 2006, Taiwan has made repeated requests for 66 F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighters to replace F-5E/F Tigers, scheduled for retirement within the next five years. The Air Force also may mothball its Mirage 2000-5D/Es because of maintenance costs.
 Currently, Taiwan’s Air Force consists of 390 fighters: 146 F-16A/B Block 20s, 128 F-CK-1 Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF), 56 Mirage 2000-5s and roughly 60 F-5s.
 According to the 2009 Pentagon report on China’s military modernization, Taiwan is facing 330 Chinese fighter aircraft in military regions directly across the strait. China has 1,655 fighter aircraft in total.


Failure to maintain equity in air power could weaken Taiwan’s negotiating posture with China, and a weakened military could invite Chinese adventurism, officials said.
 “The most significant consequence of forgoing the F-16s would be strategic in nature,” a former Pentagon official said. “President Ma [Ying-jeou] and Taiwan may have less political confidence in dealing with China, whether it’s the symbology of U.S. support, or having those assets available to counter Chinese coercive air activity in the Taiwan Strait, short of a full-scale air and missile campaign.”

Symbology or not, U.S. reluctance to provide Taiwan with additional fighters places the Air Force in a difficult position.
 Options include the IDF-2 “Goshawk” program, begun in 2000 by state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC). Based on the original IDF airframe, the IDF-2 can carry an extra 771 kilograms (1,700 pounds) of fuel and payload.
 AIDC has produced two prototypes, but the Air Force has largely ignored the program in favor of new F-16s, leaving continued research and development in stagnation. AIDC manufactured the original IDFs during the 1990s, but Air Force officials have said the IDF does not match F-16 or Mirage capabilities.
 An F-5 upgrade option was abandoned by the AIDC in 2000 due to technical problems.


AIDC “gave up too easily after initial tests,” said the former official. There are also problems with high “logistics costs” for maintaining the F-5 airframe.
 Another option would be to continue maintaining the Mirage fleet, but its operational costs are three times that of the F-16s, said Fu Mei, director of the Taiwan Security Analysis Center.
 “As such, most of the aircraft are expected to be mothballed starting in 2010,” he said. “The alternative, if the U.S. doesn’t sell F-16s, would be, of course, to keep flying the Mirage 2000s, but at the price of significantly lower cost-effectiveness for its air defense dollar.” The former Pentagon official confirmed the problem.
 “A huge portion of Taiwan’s Air Force O&M [Operations and Maintenance] budget is spent on the Mirages,” the former official said. “As a bridge measure, one option could be to upgrade all or a part of its existing F-16 A/Bs with a new radar, mission computer and engine.”

New fighters would serve as a bridge to Taiwan procuring vertical/short-takeoff-and landing (VSTOL) fighters, the source said. China targets Taiwan with about 1,000 Dong Feng short-range ballistic missiles, which could destroy conventional runways, making most of Taiwan’s current fighter aircraft inoperable.
 To alleviate the problem, Taiwan has debated the procurement of refurbished AV-8 VSTOL Harriers and has already expressed an interest in F-35B VSTOL fighters, but the F-35s are not expected to be available for at least a decade.
 “Additional F-16s could enter the inventory within three [to] four years after contract signing, so it could be viewed as a $5 billion bridge solution,” said the former Pentagon official.
 The Air Force also faces reductions of 5,000 to 6,000 troops due to streamlining demands by the Ministry of National Defense.
 “Cuts that deep would readily translate into losing at least one operational wing and possibly two,” Mei said. “If the U.S. should decide to kill the F-16C/D sale, then it would simply make it logically more difficult for the Air Force to resist standing down one of its fighter wings. Losing one-sixth of its fighter force would be a serious blow to Taiwan’s air defense capability.”

U.S. State Department and Pentagon officials under the Obama administration have said publicly and on background that F-16s would be given consideration under the Taiwan Relations Act, which guarantees continued U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
 However, China continues to wield increasing economic and diplomatic power in the United States and in Asia.

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