According to Taiwan media reports, the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have used the so-called "national ship-building" policy to acquire a new generation of ships . According to the shipbuilding plans of the Taiwan Army and the "Coast Patrol Agency" (equivalent to the Coast Guard), 2026 will be the year for Taiwan's maritime warfare. "critical years" for power "By then, there will be 16 ships of the same type as the Tuojiang ship, as well as 4 fast minelayers and other ships. If the new generation of missile frigates and self-made submarines develop smoothly, Taiwan's maritime combat power will be greatly improved.
At present, Taiwan Province’s independent shipbuilding plan is in line with the “defense independence” plan. In 2017, Taiwan’s defense department released two important policy guidance documents: the first is the “four-year national defense review” on March 16, and the second is the “national defense report” on December 26, both of which were released after Tsai Ing-wen came to power. The first document of its kind. It can be seen from the document that in order to promote the policy of "national defense independence", Taiwan's defense department has formulated a "national defense industry" development strategy and implementation path for the first time, promotes scientific and technological innovation, expands scientific research settings, and injects industry with "national aircraft, national warships" Develop momentum, revitalize the "defense industry" and promote economic growth. For Taiwan Province, the focus of the "defense independence" plan is manufacturing, not command or organizational autonomy. It is obvious that Taiwan Province wants to be a fool.
Taiwan Province has had experience in self-research of some weapons and platforms in the past. For example, the famous IDF project gave birth to the F-CK-1, the first third-generation fighter jet in the Chinese circle, as well as the AT-3 trainer aircraft and the "Hsiung Feng" series. Anti-ship missiles, etc. From a global perspective, Taiwan Province's scientific research capabilities in the 1990s were still at an above-average level. However, Taiwan Province's self-research capabilities are not systematic, and they do not have a sufficient foundation. After 2000, Taiwan Province's self-research capabilities have stagnated and are now being forcibly restarted.
"Nationally made national machineries, domestically made warships, and information security" are several main goals of Taiwan Province in this round. Among them, "nationally made national machines" include the XT-5 "Blue Magpie" advanced training aircraft project, which has been launched in June 2020. The first flight was achieved on the 10th. Overall, the XT-5 is an upgraded two-seater version of the F-CK-1, with 66 units expected to be produced. F-CK-1 is also the easiest project for Taiwan Hanxiang Company to acquire. It is not difficult to develop an improved version based on this, and it may also lay the foundation for subsequent research and development projects.
The focus of "Nationally Made Ships" is the submarine project and the new generation missile frigate project. The former has officially started construction. However, submarines greatly exceed the current technical level of Taiwan Province, so they are likely to use American technology in core technologies, such as optical periscopes, communication systems, power systems, breathless propulsion systems, sonar systems and ship host , etc. Use French and Spanish S-80 class submarine technology, or some form of imported Japanese technology. The planned tonnage of the new generation missile frigate is 4,500-6,200 tons. It is planned to be equipped with a small Aegis system. The current development progress is only 2.58%. Both projects are products of leapfrog development, and the speed cannot be too fast. As for the "amphibious assault ship" project, it is still in the PPT stage.
In addition, the technical difficulties of related small ships and dock landing ships are much smaller, so the second "Tuojiang" class missile boat, the first fast minelayer, Taiwan Coast Patrol "Anping Ship", "Successful Ship", etc. All have gone into the water. A new generation of amphibious transport dock transport ship and a new rescue ship will also be delivered in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Of course, the combat effectiveness of these small and auxiliary ships will not have much impact.
Cyber security has become an important strategic goal of Taiwan Province. In order to cope with increasingly severe challenges, the Taiwan military must maintain the highest standards of security specifications. The plan is to lay out near, medium and long-term development in the areas of general military and civilian products, linking industry-university R&D energy and cultivating information security professionals. Taiwan's defense department also allocates relevant budgets based on combat readiness needs and releases projects that can be co-operated by the island's information security industry, thereby increasing opportunities for island manufacturers to participate in the development of defense products.
Judging from the reaction of the Taiwan authorities, it is obvious that the Tsai administration has given this series of policies a very high strategic positioning, and the logic behind it is based on the DPP's own considerations.
First of all, the direct benefits are naturally military, but this is very rare. Militarily, Taiwan Province's series of "self-research" plans are still low-end products at present. At the same time, Taiwan Province's geographical structure is unlikely to change the pattern of "seeking independence through force, a dead end". As long as the mainland develops without problems, Taiwan It is impossible to succeed if the province "rejects reunification by force". The reunification of the mainland is a logic of historical legitimacy, which can be changed no matter whether Taiwan Province wants to increase the cost of reunification. What's more, it is impossible for them to engage in an arms race with the mainland. The mainland's equal-sized rival is the United States.
Secondly, it is obvious that the DPP authorities are seeking to strengthen the manufacturing industry and will use these high-end manufacturing projects to drive the development of other manufacturing industries. Manufacturing needs upstream and downstream systems and markets. The idea of the DPP authorities should be to prepare for the subsequent US-led partnership agreement in order to decouple from the mainland economy. Tsai Ing-wen even said, "In the future, we may also become a source of supply of relevant equipment and components for Western democratic countries, driving the upgrading of the national defense industry." Behind this, Taiwan Province's view of wanting to share in the international market has been very clear, and this is also A bet.
Again, it should be noted that the DPP authorities want to use public resources to consolidate their interest network in the manufacturing sector and the military, gradually squeeze the existing KMT organizations, and further distribute the wealth. This point involves the characteristics of Taiwan's politics itself. The Democratic Progressive Party, which was born from the grassroots, has always lacked relevant planning capabilities and social relations, and relies more on grassroots social networks. The final goal of the DPP's action may be "long-term governance." The deterioration of cross-strait relations and "defense independence" are both based on this logic.
Of course, although this series of actions are high-profile, the actual scale is laughable as a whole. The more they are exaggerated, the more I feel that Taiwan Province’s egocentrism has never been seen in the world. The era when the GDP of one province is equivalent to 45% of the mainland is an accident of history. Whether it is peaceful reunification or reunification by force, the ultimate goal is reunification. No matter what Taiwan Province does, reunification will be the historical trend.
