TAIPEI - The Taiwanese Navy is planning a 20-year force modernization program that will see it phase out all the U.S.- and French-produced warships in its fleet. But instead of replacing these ships through purchases from foreign vendors the Taiwanese Navy intends to replace them through a local initiative overseen by the service.
The massive build plan will be made public in November, but details were divulged to the media during the annual Han Kuang exercises of the island's eastern coast on September 17. The Navy wants to complete the design and development stage over a 5-10 year stretch, leaving the remaining 10 years for production, sea trials, training and introduction into service. The timeline will, of course, depend upon the technical complexity of the design and production stages as well as their respective financial scope.
To design, develop and produce the new ships Taiwan will rely upon a team featuring Ocean Industries Research and Development Center (for the design), the Defense Ministry's own Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) for systems and integration, and the local China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. for construction.
By going through local channels Taiwan hopes to expand job opportunities and work skills, reduce its reliance upon U.S. defense exports and cut out opportunities for corruption. The latter is as crucial an aspect as the former(s) as Taiwan's past contracts with U.S. and European defense firms have often led to the hiring of local agents tied to organized crime or - even more importantly - affiliated with or infiltrated by Chinese intelligence. Spying has become more and more an issue for Taiwan, particularly now that warming ties with China have opened up greater opportunities for People's Republic to access Taiwanese military secrets.
But it is the need to wean itself off of dependence upon foreign supply that overrides all other concerns for Taiwan. With China bringing pressure to bear on countries not to trade in defense-related hardware with Taiwan supplying-countries have become ever more reluctant to sell military goods to the island state. As a result Taiwan has become, with the U.S. the big exception, effectively marginalized on the global arms market. There have been increasing worries in Taipei that even its closest ally, Washington, has become more and more willing to bow to the pressures of Beijing before signing off on sales of military goods to Taiwan. Its desire for ever-greater numbers of combat aircraft and in more modern design has been met with foot-dragging in Washington for years. Conscious of this, Taiwan has begun its own indigenization initiatives in an effort to both build up local industry and reduce reliance on the foreign market.
Nonetheless, Taiwan will still need foreign assistance in aspects of its new shipbuilding ambitions, which include destroyers (four), frigates (between 10 and 15), corvettes, amphibious transport docks - and submarines. The latter project might be particularly dependent on foreign technological insight. China Shipbuilding Industry Corp claims to have the necessary industrial support capability to build the submarines in-country, but the likelihood will be that some Western assistance is required on niche components and systems. The Taiwanese Navy has a stated requirement for as many as 8 diesel-electric submarines to replace its atrophying and limited fleet, but initially the procurement of four will be pursued with an eventual eye on meeting the full scope of the requirement.
Funding, however, will be the largest hurdle. Under the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou defense spending has shrunk as an emphasis on more productive and warmer ties with China has been emphasized. As both a share of annual state expenditures and a percentage of GDP defense spending has been in steady decline prior to even Ma Ying-jeou's assumption to the presidency in 2008. As a percentage of GDP the defense budget has shrink from 3.8 percent in 1994 to 2.1 percent by 2013. Over the same period the share of defense spending as part of annual state expenditure has fallen from 24.3 percent to 16.2 percent. The slide in defense funding as paramount government priority has correlated with the improved living standards of the general population, which has in turn increased pressures on politicians to provide for social welfare programs.
Upon coming to power in 2008, President Ma vowed to maintain defense spending at 3 percent of GDP, but has repeatedly failed to do so. With the capitalization earmark itself shrinking as a portion of the defense budget this will have to be reversed if the Taiwanese Navy hopes to see its ambitious new plan come to fruition.
You have 0 item(s) in your cart