The Ministry of National Defense is to allocate an estimated NT$10.6 billion (US$341.33 million) for a domestic submarine program, its budget report for next year said.
The navy has asked for NT$9.75 billion to continue building a prototype submarine, the construction of which began this year, the report said, adding that the navy intends to complete the vessel before the end of 2025.
Another NT$819.1 million was requested by the navy to to finalize the design contract of the submarine, which is to pay for the development of combat systems and the platform, and for laying the groundwork of the design details, it said.
The navy is to send a delegation of six people to the US and six more to Europe, where they are to inspect contractors’ ability to manufacture articles to specification and deliver them on time, the report said.
The US-bound team has eight days for their task and the Europe-bound team 11 days, with a total budget of NT$1.8 million, it said.
The military has been tight-lipped about the companies that were awarded contracts for the submarine program. Last year, then-navy chief of staff Vice Admiral Lee Tsung-hsiao (李宗孝) told lawmakers that 15 companies in the US and Europe had expressed an interest in bidding.
In March, the military furnished technology transfer licensing documents to be reviewed by the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee and lawmakers were reportedly satisfied, sources said.
With Washington having approved a slew of arms sales to the nation, the armed forces are to send officers to the US to learn about the weapon systems Taiwan is to procure, the report said.
Military officers are to attend technical conferences with their counterparts and weapons manufacturers, including makers of Stinger portable air defense systems, AIM-X air-to-air missiles, TOW-2B anti-tank guided missiles, F-16V jets and M1A2 Abrams tanks, it said.
Liaison teams are to be established in the US to provide fiscal and technical oversight, and to coordinate systems integration and logistical organization, it said.
Navy and air force representatives are to attend a leadership seminar at the US Naval Academy and next year’s Mobility Guardian exercise held by the US Air Force at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord respectively, it said.
The command sergeant of the General Staff is expected to meet their US counterpart, while the Reserve Command plans to observe the training of army reservists by the US Indo-Pacific Command in September next year, it said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
RSS