The navy is to modernize the two Hai Lung-class submarines in its fleet as part of a four-year program as planned, after Netherlands-based RH Marine green-lit the program’s technical feasibility, a Ministry of National Defense official said.
Modified from the Dutch Zwaardvis-class, the Hai Lung-class subs have been in service for more than 30 years of their 35-year life span, the official told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) on condition of anonymity.
To enhance combat capabilities and to address a shortage of parts, the navy has planned numerous improvements, including equipping the pair with long-range heavy torpedoes from the US, and upgrading their electronic warfare and combat systems, he said.
Photo: Aaron Tu, Taipei Times
The US last year approved the sale of Mark 48 torpedoes; the Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology would be responsible for upgrading the electronic warfare and combat systems and RH Marine is to help with systems integration, the official said.
Given the subs’ small interiors and difficulty of integrating new systems with older ones, in April last year the navy sought assistance from RH Marine, he said.
The firm conducted a year-long evaluation and has completed the initial report on implementing the upgrades, the source said.
The institute is to start contracting and licensing procedures this year, while combat systems software design, equipment purchases and interface integration would begin next year, he said.
The submarines will be refitted from 2020 to 2022 to take advantage of their refurbishment cycles, he said.
The institute will furnish what equipment and components it can manufacture, while the remainder would be sourced from private companies, he said.
Ministry and institute officials approached representatives from an unnamed US defense manufacturer at the Taiwan-US Defense Business Forum held in Kaohsiung on May 10, he said.
The firm’s representatives tentatively agreed to sell the needed equipment and parts, he said.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS