Taiwan Targets to Have Two New Submarines in 2027 to Anticipate China

JAKARTA - Taiwan targets to operationalize two new domestically developed submarines in 2027, possibly equipped with missiles, to strengthen its deterrent power against the Chinese navy, said the head of the program.

Claimed by China as its territory, Taiwan has made its armed forces modernization program a priority, as the Chinese military holds military exercises every day at sea and in the air.

President Tsai Ing-wen, who initiated the program when she took office in 2016, is expected to launch the first of eight new submarines on Thursday, under a plan that draws on expertise and technology from several countries, a breakthrough for isolated Taiwan. diplomatic.

Meanwhile, President Tsai's Security Advisor who is also the head of this program, Admiral Huang Shu-kuang, said that the fleet of 10 submarines, including two Dutch-made submarines which entered service in the 1980s, would terrify the Chinese navy.

"If we can build this combat capacity, I don't think we will lose the war," Admiral Huang said in a briefing this month on the project, reported by Reuters, September 25.

Admiral Huang further said that the first submarine, which costs 49.36 billion Taiwan dollars, will use a combat system made by Lockheed Martin Corp, and carry US-made MK-48 heavy class torpedoes. The ship will enter sea trials next month before being delivered to the navy at the end of 2024.

For the next model, Taiwan will make room for submarine-launched anti-ship missiles. However, the addition of such weapons depends on the availability of production in the US, where capacity is already limited, Admiral Huang said, without naming the companies that might be involved.

He further explained that the submarine was a "strategic deterrent" against Chinese warships passing through the Miyako Strait near southwest Japan, or the Bashi Strait which separates Taiwan from the Philippines.

Admiral Huang said Taiwan's diesel-electric submarines could hold off China in the first island chain, referring to the area stretching from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and up to Kalimantan, which includes China's coastal seas.

"This is also a strategic concept of the US military, to contain them on the first island chain and deny them access," Huang explained.

"If Taiwan is taken, Japan will definitely not be safe, South Korea will definitely not be safe," he said.

Separately, China's Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.

Admiral Huang also said the submarines could help maintain the island's "lifeline" to the Pacific by keeping ports along Taiwan's east coast open for supplies in case of conflict.

"The submarine will keep the ship away from our east coast," he stressed.

Taiwan is said to be getting technology, components and human resources from at least seven countries to help it build submarines.

Admiral Huang declined to say which countries had approved the export permits, but said he had contacted generals from countries such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and India.