The budget for fiscal year 2019 to build a fleet of 60 missile-equipped 45-tonne fast-attack craft was yesterday cut by NT$200 million (US$6.48 million), from an initial NT$468 million, with lawmakers from across party lines saying that the navy should be more practical in its planning.
The funding cut came after a review of the navy’s budget by the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
At the committee’s meeting, Navy Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Lee Tsung-hsiao (李宗孝) said that design and testing of the fast-attack craft would begin next year, while preparations to produce the first four would not begin until 2021.
The production of new ships should depend on current needs, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said.
The navy has yet to provide a prototype for testing and simulation as it did with the earlier Tuo Jiang-class corvette, Chiang said, adding that the navy should not propose budgets for mass production without a prototype for trials and environmental tests.
The navy cannot guarantee that the total cost to produce the 60 vessels would be capped at the planned NT$31.6 billion, as it has not performed design and testing, the committee said.
Asked by KMT Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) how the navy would staff the vessels, Lee said that it would undergo a structural adjustment of personnel.
Following the retirement of ships from the amphibious landing branch, as well as minesweepers, the navy would have an excess of personnel to crew the new vessels, he said.
Unlike the Guang Hua VI fast-attack missile boat, the new vessels would conduct missions in various sea zones, he added.
Mass production plans would only be approved after the navy has conducted testing, the committee said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
RSS