President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday told sailors aboard a combat-ready warship at a major base in the Taiwan Strait that he had their backs, thanking them for safeguarding Taiwanese security.
Speaking to sailors on board the warship Cheng Ho at the Magong (馬公) base in Penghu County, Lai said the navy sets great store on working together as one.
“As commander-in-chief of the three services, I want to stress that the government will back all of you,” he said in a message broadcast throughout the ship by loudspeaker.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The Cheng Ho — named after a Ming Dynasty Chinese admiral and explorer — is a Taiwan-built warship based on the design for the US Oliver Hazard Perry class of frigates.
A live RIM-66 Standard missile stood ready in its launcher at the ship’s bow as Lai spoke onboard.
Speaking to officers shortly afterward at a lunch at the base, Lai said the government was committed to further improving the weapons of the armed forces.
Penghu is also home to an important air base, from which Taiwanese air force jets regularly scramble to shadow Chinese military aircraft and warships operating around Taiwan.
Lai reviewed soldiers at an air defense facility near the air base, watching a drill with a fixed twin-mount Stinger surface-to-air missile, designed for close-in defense.
In related news, a successful subcontractor bid for a military base on Thursday laid the final piece of groundwork realizing the Ministry of National Defense’s plans for five missile bases forming a defensive perimeter extending 150km to the south, a ministry tender showed.
The project for the base in Taitung County’s Taiping Township (太平) was awarded to an undisclosed party, costing NT$1.57 billion (US$49.18 million), with construction having started last month and to continue through July 2027.
Bases are to be built in Tainan’s Sinjhong District (新中), the military port in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營), the eastern coast of Pingtung County, Pingtung County’s Pucian Township (埔墘), Taiping and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾), a source said.
The source said the first base equipped with Harpoon missiles would be in Tainan and would likely complete construction by August 2027.
The source said all the bases are expected to be completed simultaneously and would be inspected concurrently in three years.
The navy’s 400 land-launched Harpoon missiles are expected to be delivered by 2028.
The missiles are to be placed under the jurisdiction of the littoral combat command, which would be officially established in 2026 alongside an arsenal of locally developed Hsiung Feng (“Brave Wind,” 雄風) missiles.
The source said that the Harpoon missiles purchased are the RGM-84L-4 Block II (U), the most up-to-date version, and have an effective range exceeding the 148km of the Hsiung Feng missiles.
The source said that the littoral combat command, with such an arsenal of missiles and the 25 radar trucks included in the missile package, would have greater capabilities to deter the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy.
The source said the radar trucks are compatible with the navy’s surveillance and reconnaissance system, adding that the network formed by the vehicles would have one node immediately take up the workload of another in case it is attacked or otherwise taken out of commission.
Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard
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