Taiwan considers building its own submarines

Taiwan will continue its efforts to purchase submarines from the United States but is also considering the possibility of developing indigenous models, the country's Ministry of National Defense said on Tuesday.

 

 

Submarines are a major factor in the Navy's efforts to beef up its defense capacity in the long term, said ministry spokesman Luo Shou-he after the opposition Democratic Progressive Party unveiled its fifth defense policy paper earlier in the day.

 

 

Lo said that while the Navy will maintain its efforts to acquire US-made submarines, it will also try to build its own or seek other supply sources.

 

 

At the launch of the DPP's defense policy paper, the party's chairman, Su Tseng-chang, said that if the DPP returns to power in 2016, it will immediately start to develop indigenous submarines and will not wait for a response from the United States on Taiwan's purchase requests.

 

 

Su said Taiwan's military spending should return to the level of 3% of GDP and the process of developing indigenous submarines should be sped up.

 

 

Legislator Lin Yu-fang of the ruling Kuomintang said the US is unlikely to build diesel-powered submarines for Taiwan because the US does not want to offend China. Furthermore, the US has not built diesel submarines in many years, he said.

 

 

Lin said Taiwan's capacity to build indigenous submarines is not as bad as imagined and it is time to show some resolve in that regard.

 

 

According to a military source, the United States agreed to sell Taiwan F-16 fighter jets after Taiwan started to develop indigenous defense fighters.

 

 

"If we can develop indigenous submarines to a certain degree, the US may consider a transfer of technology," the source said, adding that many shipbuilders in Taiwan are interested in submarine construction.

 

 

However, the entire issue hinges on the nation's defense spending, the source said.

 

 

York Chen, convener of the DPP's defense policy advisory committee, said that if Taiwan wants to build its own submarines, it should not waste time and money maintaining its 70-year-old Guppy class submarines.

 

 

Legislator Lin appeared to agree with Chen's view regarding the Guppy class submarines. "If we can't build our own submarines, we can at least learn a lot if we dismantle the two Guppy class vessels," Lin said.

 

 

Taiwan currently has two Guppy class submarines in service, both purchased from the Netherlands. It also has two other submarines, which formerly belonged to the US Navy and are now used mainly for training, according to the defense ministry's website.

Two ex-military officers charged as spies for China, passing on submarine secret

wo retired military personnel yesterday were indicted for allegedly serving as Chinese spies, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office announced yesterday.

The two, surnamed Chien (錢) and Lu (盧), were found attempting to collect information for Chinese government from military personnel they knew, said in the indictment.

The prosecutors indicted the two under charges of violating the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例),

Lu, who previously served at the Air Defense Missile Command until his retirement in 2005, was recruited by Chinese intelligence agents in China's Xiamen City, when he was doing business there, the indictment said.

Lu successfully persuaded Chien, a former Navy officer discharged in 2009, to join him in his alleged espionage activity after paying the latter US$1,000 and 2,000 yuan.

The two later offered Chang Chih-hsin (張祉鑫), a former manager at the Naval Meteorological & Oceanographic Office (METOC) and Chang's wife, a free trip to Cebu in the Philippines in an attempt to recruit Chang.

They also paid Chang US$2,000 in exchange for his service in recruiting more current and former military personnel to pass military secrets to Beijing, the indictment said.

The METOC is responsible for mapping the maritime areas surrounding Taiwan.

Chang is now facing charges for passing confidential nautical charts that show maritime areas and adjacent coastal regions of Taiwan waters and related information on Taiwan's submarine project to the Chinese mainland.

Air Force forms anti-submarine group

The Ministry of National Defense released a statement Tuesday to announce the establishment of an Air Force anti-submarine group, part of efforts to safeguard the country.

The Air Force took possession of 11 S-2T anti-submarine planes from the Navy during a commissioning ceremony at an air force base in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan.

The main missions of the anti-submarine group will include countering the threat of submarine attack by opposing forces, said Chief of the General Staff Gen. Yen Ming at the ceremony, according to the statement.

Although Taiwan-China relations have improved a great deal in recent years, the military must remain vigilant, Yen said.

The new group will also receive the first batch of 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft to be delivered by the United States by the end of this year.

The P-3C, the most capable Orion version, has advanced submarine detection capability.

In 2007, the U.S. government approved the sale of the P-3Cs with T-56 turboprop engines, and other associated equipment and services, at an estimated cost of US$1.96 billion.

Taiwan holds military exercises amid dispute with Philippines

Taiwan’s military yesterday conducted exercises in waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, close to the spot where Filipino coast guard personnel opened fire on a Taiwanese fishing vessel last week, killing a 65-year-old-crew member.

Two Lafayette frigates, one Kidd-class destroyer, two missile boats and assorted Mirage and locally produced jet fighters took part in the drill, underscoring Taiwan’s anger over the incident, which has dominated local media coverage for the past week.

It seems certain to benefit President Ma Ying-jeou, desperately in need of a public relations victory following a protracted economic slowdown that has helped depress his once buoyant approval rating to new lows that were in the mid-teens as of last week.

Ma is also likely to be aided by the seemingly inflexible attitude taken by his premier, who on Wednesday brushed aside an apology by Manila — the second in 24 hours — as insufficient and insincere. As a result, a series of Taiwanese sanctions imposed on the Philippines — a hiring freeze placed on Philippine workers coming to Taiwan, the recall of Taiwan’s semi-official to Manila and the discouraging of Taiwanese travel to the Southeast Asian nation — will all remain in effect.

On Thursday, it was the Taiwanese military exercises in the Bashi Strait that captured most of the attention in Taiwan, with cable TV news stations offering full coverage of the sea and air maneuvers.

Commentators drew repeated attention to the presence of heavily armed naval ships protecting the Taiwanese fishing boats working in the area — a reminder that Taiwan is prepared to do everything it can to discourage a reprise of last week’s incident.

"Our naval drill is meant to flex our muscles and protect our sovereignty," gushed CTI TV, while ETTV added ominously: "Our Mirage fighters are heavily armed with missiles. Our naval crews are maneuvering on the very doorstep of the Philippines."

The circumstances behind the May 9 shooting remain shrouded in controversy. While the Philippines acknowledges that its coast guard personnel did open fire on the Taiwanese boat, it says the action was taken in self-defense to prevent the Taiwanese from ramming their own vessel. Taiwanese fishermen deny the ramming claim.

The Philippines has opened an inquiry into the affair. Fourteen Taiwanese police investigators arrived in Manila on Thursday to take part in the inquiry.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s envoy Amadeo Perez also returned Thursday from Taiwan, where he said he was received by a Taiwanese Foreign Ministry official. But he said he failed to meet with the family of the slain fisherman as instructed by Aquino "to convey our apologies and condolences to the family."

"We were unable to do that because the government of Taiwan did not want to give us security, and they said the family did not want to meet us," he told reporters.

Perez said he asked an emissary to let the fisherman’s family know that he would go back to Taiwan if they agree to meet him. Last week’s incident took place in waters southeast of Taiwan and north of the Philippines in a location considered by both to be well within their 200 nautical mile-from-shore exclusive economic zones.

The continuing tensions between Taipei and Manila has placed the United States into something of a bind, with the State Department on Wednesday saying it was concerned by the increase in tensions "between two neighboring democracies and close partners of the United States." It welcomed the Philippines’ pledge to investigate the shooting and cooperate with Taiwanese investigators, and urged both parties to avoid further escalation in tensions.

"We want them to work through their differences on this issue as expeditiously as they can," spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters.

China is also closely monitoring the upsurge in tensions between Taiwan and the Philippines, doing its best to make common cause with Taipei on a sensitive issue of maritime sovereignty.

Beijing sees the affair as a good opportunity to emphasize its claims over the island, from which it split amid civil war in 1949. Taiwan has so far resisted China’s efforts to mount a joint front against Manila.

On Wednesday, the spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council in Beijing repeated the mainland’s condemnation of the Philippines’ handling of the incident.

"It is the shared responsibility of both the mainland and Taiwan to safeguard the interests of compatriots across the strait," Yang Yi said. "We have urged the Philippines to investigate the incident, punish the murderer and give a satisfactory explanation to the victims."

Chinese Boomers/Bombers A Bust

Taiwanese intelligence officials recently revealed (while answering questions before parliament) that China’s Type 94 SSBN (ballistic missile carrying nuclear powered boat, also called "boomers") has not yet been commissioned. This was apparently in response to reports that a Type 94 class sub was seen recently undergoing what appeared to be sea trials. Taiwanese officials also stated that the JL-2 SLBM (Sea Launched Ballistic Missiles) that the Type 94 is designed to carry is still undergoing testing.

 

It’s no secret that China is eager to actually send one of its SSBNs out on a combat patrol. That’s because, to date, China has never been able to do this. America, Russia, Britain, and France have all done so and still do. The U.S. has had SSBNs going out with nuclear armed, and ready to fire, missiles for over half a century. What is going on with China? There appears to be a combination of technical and political problems. Some of these problems are no longer state secrets but are being discussed in the state controlled media. 

 

What is known is that China has already produced two generations of SSBNs. In the early 1980s, the Type 92 SSBN was launched but had a lot of problems and never made it into service. It only went out for training in Chinese coastal waters. Only one was built. 

 

In the last decade the Type 94 showed up. This was believed, in the West, to be the Chinese SSBN that would go on patrol. This has never happened, at least not yet. Turns out that the Type 94 also had technical problems, and Chinese workers have been seen working on Type 94s for years.

 

The Type 94 seemed like it would enter service because it is simply a variant of the  Type 93 class SSN (nuclear powered attack sub), which looks a lot like the three decade old Russian Victor III class SSN design. The first Type 93 entered service in 2006. 

 

The Type 94 SSBN looks like a Victor III with a missile compartment added. Taking a SSN design and adding extra compartments to hold the ballistic missiles is an old trick, pioneered by the United States in the 1950s to produce the first ever SSBNs. The Chinese appear to have done the same thing by taking their new Type 93 SSN and creating a larger Type 94 SSBN boat of 9,000 tons displacement. Priority was apparently given to construction of the Type 94, as having nuclear missiles able to reach the United States gives China more diplomatic clout than some new SSNs. The first Type 94 was completed two years ago. But it still has not gone to sea equipped with nuclear missiles.

 

This may be because after the first two new, 7,000 ton, Type 93 class SSNs went to sea, China apparently found their performance was not impressive at all. Not much more was expected from the Type 94s, except that they might be reliable enough to make a few combat patrols, just for the record. The 93s were too noisy and had a long list of more minor defects as well. It's unclear how many 93s will be built, probably no more than six (four already exist). More resources are apparently being diverted to the next SSN class, the 95, and the next SSBN, the Type 96. The first Type 95 is under construction and not expected to enter service until 2015. The Type 96 SSBN is still in the planning stages, apparently waiting to see how well (or not) the Type 95 SSN design works out.

 

The Type 93 and Type 94 were both over a decade in development and construction. Work began on the 94 class in the 1990s. For years all that was known was that the Chinese were having technical problems with the new design. The Type 94 is a modern SSBN, using technology bought from Russia, plus what was developed by the Chinese in their earlier nuclear submarine building efforts. 

While the Chinese have had a hard time building reliable and quiet nuclear subs, they are determined to acquire the needed skills. You do that by doing it and eating your mistakes. U.S. intelligence experts believe that China is now concentrating on the design of the new Type 96s. That may still be the case, and the Type 94 seen at sea may be testing new technology meant for the Type 96.

 

But there are other problems. The Chinese government is apparently uneasy with sending off an SSBN, armed with twelve or more SLBMs, each with one or more nuclear warheads. Western nations carefully select the officers and crews of their SSBNs and use a host of codes and procedures (PAL or "Permissive Action Links") to insure that a single madman cannot use any of those SLBMs. Russia also screened crews and had PAL codes but also had, in effect, representatives of the secret police on the SSBN, whose main job was to insure that the SLBMs were used as the government back in Moscow commanded. China has always been much less trusting of the armed forces when it comes to nuclear weapons. China also appears to lack the advanced PAL technology found in the West. All this doesn't get much mention in the West but it is very real inside China. So when the Type 96 shows up, sometime late in this decade, it will be revealing to see if the Chinese have overcome their reluctance to trust a crew of Chinese sailors with all those nukes.

China adds ‘carrier killer’ to missiles facing Taiwan

WARNING:Pentagon sources said that China’s positioning of the ‘carrier killer’ missiles was a warning to the US to stay well clear of the area in case of a cross-strait conflict

China has based its new anti-ship Dong Feng-21D (DF-21D) “carrier killer” missiles along the coast facing Taiwan, US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Michael Flynn said in testimony before the US Senate Armed Services Committee.

Flynn said that Beijing was enhancing the firepower of the more than 1,200 conventional short-range ballistic missiles deployed opposite Taiwan with a limited, but growing, number of conventionally armed, medium-range ballistic missiles, including the DF-21D.

“China is developing a tiered ballistic missile defense system and has successfully tested the upper-tier capability on two occasions,” he said.

Flynn said that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was building a modern military capable of defending China’s “core interests” of protecting territorial integrity, including Taiwan.

“Preparation for a Taiwan conflict with US intervention remains the primary driver of the PLA’s evolving force structure, weapons development, operational planning and training,” Flynn said, adding that “China has spent as much as US$215 billion on military-related goods and services in 2012, in contrast to the US$107 billion Beijing reported in its official military budget.”

“Even as the Chinese military plans for conflict and continues its build-up across from Taiwan, cross-strait relations have remained good following President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election,” he added.

Flynn said the PLA Navy was also developing a JIN-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and JL-2 submarine-launched missiles.

He said that China’s investment in naval weapons is focused primarily on anti-air and anti-surface capabilities to achieve periodic and local sea and air superiority.

Flynn said that the Chinese air force was transforming from a force oriented solely toward territorial defense into one capable of both offshore offensive and defensive roles, including strike, air and missile defense, as well as early warning and reconnaissance.

While Flynn did not say why China had deployed the new “carrier-killer” missiles opposite Taiwan, Pentagon sources said it was a clear warning to the US to stay well clear of the area in case of a conflict.

However, a report published earlier this month by Ronald O’Rourke, the Congressional Research Service’s specialist in naval affairs, said the missile could be defeated with a combination of active and passive measures along its “kill chain.”

O’Rourke said the US Navy could reduce the aircraft carrier electromagnetic emissions used by the missile and even release false emissions to fool it. In addition, the US Navy could disable the missile’s targeting systems, destroy it in flight or use decoys to confuse it as it approached its target, he added.

Retired Taiwan naval officer arrested on suspicion of spying for China

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says a retired naval officer has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China.

A statement released by the ministry on Monday says Chinese intelligence made contact with Cmdr. Chang Chih-hsin through unidentified Taiwanese intermediaries.

he ministry denies media reports that Chang had leaked secretive submarine nautical charts or war plans to the Chinese.

The ministry says it was tipped off by informers. Authorities say they had investigated him even before his retirement, which newspaper reports say was in August.

Taiwan and China have spied on each other since the sides split amid civil war in 1949. Their espionage efforts have continued despite a marked decrease in tensions between them during the 4 ½-year administration of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou.

China Stalls American Weapons For Taiwan

The U.S. has agreed to ship back Pac 2 Patriot anti-aircraft missiles Taiwan sent to the United States for upgrades in 2008. These were to have been sent back in 2009 but were delayed for three years by, well, no one will admit exactly what the reason was. Might have had something to do with China pressuring the United States to not send weapons to Taiwan.

Taiwan has been trying to upgrade its Patriot anti-missile systems for a decade, but the U.S. support for this effort has been somewhat half-hearted. Last year Taiwan received its first Configuration-3 radars for its Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems. This upgrade enables Patriot to fire Pac-3 anti-missile missiles. The PAC 3 is smaller than the anti-aircraft version (PAC 2), thus a Patriot launcher can hold sixteen PAC 3 missiles, versus four PAC 2s. A PAC 2 missile weighs about a ton, a PAC 3 weighs about a third of that. The PAC 3 has a shorter range (about 20 kilometers) versus 70 kilometers for the anti-aircraft version.

Three years ago, despite vague Chinese promises that it might remove some of the thousand ballistic missiles aimed at it (which never happened), Taiwan signed a $154 million contract with a U.S. firm to upgrade the island nation's Patriot missile systems. These hardware and software changes will make the Taiwanese Patriot batteries equal in performance to those used by the U.S. Army. That is, the Taiwanese Patriot systems will be able to fire the PAC-3 anti-missile missile, and also station the Patriot launchers many kilometers from the system radars. Taiwan has also ordered hundreds of PAC-3 missiles. Meanwhile, China now has 1,600 ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan.

Increasingly anxious about China's military buildup, Taiwan has been increasing its defense spending. China still spends over five times as much on defense, to support about two million troops. Taiwan has only 350,000 troops, and a population of 23 million, compared to 1.3 billion on the mainland. Taiwan's GDP is less than six percent of Chinas. Thus the per capita income of Taiwan is more than three times that of the mainland. Taiwan's military is based on the American model, with an emphasis on quality. China based its military on the Soviet model (where quantity has a quality all its own), although for decades the emphasis was on mobilizing a huge force of guerillas. Now China is trying to develop a force that can fight on Western terms (high tech gear operated by well-trained troops.)

While many Taiwanese still see the United States as the ultimate guarantor of Taiwanese independence, they see China as increasingly capable of grabbing the island before the U.S. can intervene. So while the Taiwanese don't have to be strong enough to defeat a Chinese invasion, they do have to be strong enough to hold the Chinese back until American reinforcements can show up.

Taiwan And The Ballistic Behemoth

Taiwan now certain that China has, over the last four years added 200 more ballistic missiles to the 1,400 already aimed at the island nation. That's up from 200 in 2000, and 800 eight years ago. Despite the peace seeking rhetoric from the Chinese, the Taiwanese still have to deal with this unprecedented array of ballistic missiles aimed at them.

While China began adding new DF-16 missiles recently, most of the ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan are DF-11 and DF-15 models. The DF-11 (also known as the M11) weighs 4.2 tons, has a range of 300 kilometers and carries a .8 ton warhead. The DF-15 (M9) weighs 6.2 tons, has a range of 700 kilometers and carries a half ton warhead. Both of these are solid fuel missiles, as is the new the DF-16.

There are also over a thousand Chinese warplanes, over 100,000 troops (including several brigades of paratroopers) and dozens of major (and over a hundred smaller) warships available for an attack on Taiwan The missiles would use high explosive or cluster bomb warheads, and would basically be bombs that could not be stopped. Well, that's not exactly the case. Taiwan is investing in an anti-missile system that would negate a large number of the Chinese missiles.

If used, perhaps 75 percent of the missiles would actually hit their target (the others would suffer failures in propulsion or guidance systems.) Each missile is the equivalent of a half-ton or one ton aircraft bomb. Until recently the missiles had primitive guidance systems, meaning that the warheads will usually hit up to 500 meters from the target. Over the last two years Chinese are believed to have equipped many of these missiles with GPS, although the Taiwanese can jam this. Guidance systems that are more difficult to jam are in the works, as this technology has been much sought after by Chinese spies in the United States over the last few years.

Taiwan must rethink naval strategy

With China now believed to be working on a new guided-missile destroyer, a US military expert is advising Taiwan to rethink the island’s naval strategy.

“Taipei must admit defeat in the arms race — and then work around it,” said James R. Holmes, associate professor of strategy at the US Naval War College.

He said that the “apparent emergence” of China’s Type 052D guided-missile destroyer (DDGs) — reported last month in the Taipei Times — “reinforces the case” for revising Taiwan’s naval strategy.

“With sixteen frontline DDGs, the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] Navy will command overwhelming superiority in numbers over the ROC [Republic of China] Navy’s four elderly Kidd-class DDGs, which are hand-me-downs from the Cold War era-US Navy,” Holmes said.

Writing on The Naval Diplomat Web site, Holmes said Beijing’s 052D destroyer may “outclass” Taiwan’s ships.

“Both quality and sheer weight of numbers are on China’s side in the cross-strait naval competition,” he said.

In addition, an “economically outmatched” Taiwan that cannot manufacture or import state-of-the-art warships stands little chance of “reversing the momentum.”

He added: “This demands a change of mindset.”

Guided-missile destroyers like the 052D are “sea-control” vessels meant to “clear the seas of enemy fleets.”

However, despite Taiwan’s weaker navy, its commanders and their “political masters” still have options if they admit they are the weaker side and devise strategy accordingly” Holmes said, adding that “the weak sometimes prevail if they set limited goals and align their meager means to those goals.”

Holmes believes that Taiwan should invest in relatively inexpensive missile-equipped patrol craft and submarines that can fight even against technologically and numerically superior foes.

“The logic of sea denial is compelling for forces protecting their home turf,” he said.

According to Holmes, Taipei took some “baby steps” toward sea-denial capability with its Kuang Hua V1 fast patrol boats and is “reportedly developing a stealth corvette that looks like a truly impressive war-fighting implement.”

Equipped with these patrol boats and corvettes, the navy could “turn the logic of sea denial against the mainland” keeping it out of vital waters and driving up the costs of entry “to unbearable heights.”

Holmes added that “with swarms of sea-denial assets, the nation’s defenders would stand a good chance of giving any cross-strait invasion force nightmares, or, better yet, of deterring the attempt altogether and Taiwan’s chances of defying coercion would brighten commensurately.”

Taiwan probes punishment over navy drill near Japan

A Japanese Coast Guard ship (R) approaches a Taiwan Coast Guard ship as it escorts a Taiwanese fishing boat near the disputed East China Sea islets called Senkaku in Japan, Diaoyutai in China and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan, in this handout picture taken July 4, 2012.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou Wednesday ordered an investigation into the navy's decision to punish a senior officer for sailing too close to a Japanese-held island in a recent drill.

Rear Admiral Chang Feng-chiang received a demerit, was transferred and will face a court martial in the case, which has caused critics to attack the top brass for seeking to please Japan.

"The defence ministry must conduct a thorough investigation into the case and fully inform the public," Ma said, according to his spokesman Fan Chiang Tai-chi.

In the drill on July 26, Rear Admiral Chang led a force of three vessels to within 21.2 kilometres (13.2 miles) of Japan's Yonaguni, an islet some 110 kilometres east of Taiwan.

Chang claimed that he was testing a scenario linked to a hypothetical war in the Taiwan Straits, but the navy insisted he had violated the rules.

Lawmakers and local media blasted the navy's decision, saying it "made a fuss over the event" in order to make Japan happy, an allegation rejected by Taiwan's defence ministry.

The three vessels' manoeuvres prompted the Japanese military to send a surveillance plane but did not draw a protest from Tokyo, according to Taiwan's defence ministry.

Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu agreed to review the event and the punishment given to the rear admiral.

The event occurred amid mounting tension over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Japan, Diaoyu in China and Diaoyutai in Taiwan.

Last month, coastguard vessels from Taiwan and Japan "bumped into" each other in waters near the disputed island chain, as the Taiwanese vessel was escorting activists to the area.

Tensions between Beijing and Tokyo rose at the same time after Chinese vessels twice entered waters near the resource-rich islands.

Japan lodged two formal complaints with Beijing and summoned the Chinese ambassador in protest, and Japanese Defence Minister Satoshi Morimoto warned Tokyo could send troops to the disputed island.