Amid the lack of consensus on whether to procure or develop submarines, the navy’s lagging capabilities have become increasingly severe, a military analyst said yesterday.
Jyh-Perng Wang(王志鵬), associate researcher at the Association for Managing Defense and Strategies, said the nation’s Hailung-class Sea Dragon and World War II-era Guppy-class submarines were overburdened with numerous drills and battle missions, spending as much as 27 days per month at sea. The two Guppy-class are now used solely for training, -leaving only two Hailung-class subs for actual missions.
Wang said physical and mental stress in the navy, coupled with a “no hope for the future” mentality, could result in a wave of retirement among senior officers.
Photo: Hsu Shao-hsuan, Taipei Times
The 70-year-old Guppies, known as Sea Lion-class submarines, are in poor shape and require sustained maintenance, which is why every time the two submarines go out to sea, the Naval Command and Fleet Command are extremely nervous.
Crew on the subs are also constantly worried about accidents, which is why the burden now primarily falls on the two Dutch-made Hailung-class subs.
Sources have said that aside from battle missions, the two active submarines are responsible for “no-warning” and “warning” sea shark drills (or marine patrol operations), routine training assessment exercises by the fleet command, mine deployment and countering, as well as participation in the annual Han Kuang series of exercises. These drills take months to plan and execute, which could account for the exhaustion among officers.
Wang said that after more than 20 years of use, the Hailung-class subs were also getting old. When they entered service, they provided an edge against the vessels deployed by the People’s Liberation Army Navy, but now that China’s Song-class attack submarines were fitted with silencer tiles, it was time for the navy to retire its “-stegosaurus-class” subs and modernize.
Wang said he was concerned that salaries of between NT$30,000 and NT$40,000 per month offered by the navy were insufficient to retain personnel, since submarine crew are constantly under a lot of stress. The wave of senior officers who have retired early shows that the officers had lost confidence in the submarine fleet, which was a great loss for the navy.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS