Hangars to be built at an air base in Taichung would withstand being hit with Chinese Dongfeng ballistic missiles, air force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Huang Chih-wei (黃志偉) said last week.
The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology re-evaluated the design of the 36 planned hangars at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Huang told the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.
Experts from the institute reaffirmed that the hangars were designed to survive Dongfeng missile strikes, Huang told the hearing on the budget request from the Ministry of National Defense for fiscal 2023.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
In 2020, the ministry proposed a plan to build the hangars to protect military aircraft and preserve their combat capability in the case of a Chinese attack. The project has a budget of NT$4.392 billion (US$136.5 million) and is scheduled to be completed by 2026.
Design and risk assessment would be completed by the end of this year, after which construction would begin, Huang said.
The session also focused on the navy’s announcement that a plan to build a 4,500-tonne guided missile frigate would be scrapped in favor of building two light frigates.
The military initially budgeted NT$24.5 billion from 2019 to 2026 to build the larger frigate, but last month announced that it would instead build two ships weighing 2,000 tonnes to 2,500 tonnes each.
One would be an anti-air frigate, expected to enter service by 2025, and the other an anti-submarine frigate, expected to enter service by 2026, it said.
Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Chiang Cheng-kuo (蔣正國) said the lighter ships would address China’s increasingly aggressive military actions toward Taiwan and its attempt to create a “new normal” across the Taiwan Strait in a more cost-effective way.
The two lighter frigates would be equipped with mid-range anti-air missiles and longer-range supersonic anti-ship missiles, Chiang said, adding that they would serve as the navy’s main vessels for patrolling the Strait and to monitor the maneuvers of Chinese warships.
Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) told reporters before the hearing that the military would fight “to the end” if China tries to invade Taiwan.
However, Taiwan would never start a war, he added.
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