Since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in 2016, her administration has sought to modernize the military through a series of projects, such as the high-profile indigenous submarine and surface ship programs.
Because the navy’s surface warships were put into service more than two decades ago, there is a pressing need to replace these aging vessels with next-generation capital ships — a navy’s most important warships.
While the navy had planned to acquire eight locally made 4,500-tonne next-generation frigates, it is reportedly considering whether it should instead construct eight 2,000 to 2,500-tonne corvettes and light frigates.
The navy has not issued an official rebuttal of these reports, and the option of constructing corvettes and light frigates already features in its plans.
During peacetime, the navy’s surface ships uphold the nation’s maritime security. During wartime, surface vessels pair up with assets from other military branches to carry out joint combat operations. Given this, naval planners have assessed that the surface ships are still required.
Discussion and debate on the issue has focused on Taiwan’s domestic shipbuilding technology, especially whether the navy’s preferred radar system, which has yet to reach maturity, and the US-produced Aegis combat system could be incorporated into the design plans.
As the navy, at least over the short term, might not be able to incorporate the Aegis combat system into its ship designs, there are two possible alternative courses of action.
First, the primary task of the navy is to maintain dominance at sea in Taiwan’s maritime domain during peacetime, and to frustrate an amphibious invasion during wartime.
The navy has on order the US-produced shore-based Harpoon Block II anti-ship missile system to complement its shore-based variant of the Hsiung Feng (Brave Wind) anti-ship missile system.
During wartime, the navy’s sea dominance would conist of a combination of its assets at sea and on shore: the “Sea Spear Missile Brigade,” which operates coastal anti-ship missile batteries.
This means that there is flexibility to postpone the next-generation surface ship program until the navy’s preferred radar system has reached maturity and can be integrated into the design alongside the Aegis combat system.
Second, if the navy believes that it urgently needs new ships, it should approach Washington about purchasing new US-made ships, such as the Constellation-class Aegis guided-missile frigate, which is in the developmental phase.
An alternative would be to purchase a number of the US Navy’s Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruisers, four of which are scheduled to be decommissioned, starting this year.
Ministry of National Defense officials should discuss the idea with their counterparts in Washington, as either of these two options — the Constellation-class or the Ticonderoga-class vessels — would allow the navy to get next-generation surface ships into the water sooner than is currently possible.
Ray Song is a graduate of National Chung Cheng University’s Institute of Strategic and International Affairs.
Translated by Edward Jones
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