Tue, Apr 21, 2020 page8

• A solution to gray-zone conflicts

  • By Chang Feng-lin 張豐麟
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  There were two collisions at sea involving Chinese-registered vessels last month. On March 16, a new Taiwanese Coast Guard Administration patrol cutter was rammed by a Chinese fishing boat off the coast of Kinmen County. On March 30, a Chinese fishing boat collided with a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer in the East China Sea.

  On April 2 a Chinese maritime surveillance vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat near the disputed Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) in the South China Sea. Hanoi has lodged an official protest with Beijing.

  An Institute for National Defense and Security Research report published on March 27 said that Taiwan’s national security faces a new challenge from so-called “gray-zone conflicts” — incidents that fall below the threshold of war and are carried out by non-conventional military forces.

  Imagine a scenario where a large number of Chinese fishing boats or surveillance vessels were to swarm into Taiwanese waters, perhaps encroaching on waters surrounding one of Taiwan’s off-shore islands and mingling with coast guard or navy vessels.

  Although the coast guard would be perfectly entitled to take action to enforce the security of Taiwan’s maritime environment, it would likely become overwhelmed in a role that it was never intended to perform.

  If, on the other hand, navy vessels were to intervene, this could be presented as a provocation or escalation by Beijing and provide it with a handy excuse to start a conflict with Taiwan.

  During a public hearing for a national defense industry development ordinance bill on April 8 last year, Democratic Progressive Party caucus secretary-general Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) proposed that retired Grumman S-2T Turbo Tracker anti-submarine aircraft be brought back into service as the coast guard’s “eyes and ears” at sea. There is merit in Chung’s proposal and the government should consider turning the bill into law.

  The Spanish navy is an interesting case study: It is collaborating with shipbuilder Navantia to manufacture the Avante family of ships.

  Their modular design means that the base design can be scaled up from the 300-ton Avante 300 to produce 700, 1,400, 2,200 and 3,000-ton hull-size variants. Furthermore, the modular design can be adapted to different classes. This can include close-shore patrol vessels for the coast guard, naval combat ships, support vessels and research vessels.

  The vessel types’ shared systems architecture would greatly shorten the adjustment period for new crew members and would allow Spain’s coast guard to achieve a hitherto unattainable goal: to build a closely networked fleet of ships that can seamlessly switch between a peacetime and wartime footing.

  The Spanish government has purchased from Avante four 1,400-ton close-shore patrol vessels, four 2,200-ton deep-water patrol vessels and six 3,000-ton support vessels.

  Returning to Taiwan, new-generation Tuo Jiang-class corvettes, made from an aluminum alloy, are unable to withstand being rammed, while the tonnage of the navy’s Ching Chiang-class patrol ships is too small.

  This has led the government to reconsider the requirement for a second-generation frigate. It would need to make good use of off-the-shelf equipment to improve automation and reduce staff requirements. This is a crucial yet often overlooked requirement of Taiwan’s navy, which became an all-volunteer force in 2018.

  To replace its six aging Chi Yang-class (former Knox-class) frigates, the navy has been planning for what it terms a “second-generation, class two” vessel.

  If the navy were to replace the Chi Yang-class frigates with 16 “second generation, class two” frigates using Spain’s integrated navy and coast guard model, this would provide three key benefits:

  First, it would reduce the navy’s staffing pressure, and related costs, by nearly 4,000 personnel.

  Second, if the navy and coast guard were to share a common 15,000-ton hull design for their vessels, they could easily end Chinese “gray-zone conflicts” off the coast of Taiwan’s outlying islands.

  Third, vessels would have a common helicopter landing platform design. This would solve the certification difficulties for landing and stowing aircraft on naval and coast guard vessels.

  The Spanish model would kill three birds with one stone and is an ideal cost-saving solution.

  Chang Feng-lin is a university lecturer.

  Translated by Edward Jones
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