On November 24, Taiwan’s self-built submarine started construction in Kaohsiung , and planned to be delivered to the Navy in 2025. It is intended to balance the military strength of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and deter the mainland army from attacking Taiwan. Taiwan has high expectations for the value of these eight submarines. "Fubice" magazine analyzed on December 2 that relying solely on these eight submarines can threaten the People's Liberation Army and completely annihilate the other side, which is enough to deter mainland China from attacking Taiwan. The US think tank "2049 Project Research Institute" also came to praise the stinking feet. Its executive director Shi Mingkai said that they should not underestimate their countermeasures. Judging from the publicity materials, these submarines are similar to "Saidfish" class submarines, indicating that Taiwan ship engineers have carried out reverse engineering designs. They have double hulls, which is quite rare among non-Russian submarines. In addition, they will be propelled underwater by lithium-ion batteries, and their weapons include Mark 48-type torpedo , as well as "harpoon" anti-ship missile , etc. It is obvious that the Taiwan Navy intends to take on the role of anti-transportation when deploying these new submarines and lock in mainland Chinese warships carrying troops to cross the Taiwan Strait.
US and Taiwan experts and media have analyzed it well. Ideal for anyone, but the strength of Taiwan’s self-built submarines has been revealed as soon as they started construction.
submarine started construction on November 24, and on the 25th and 28th, there were consecutive accidents on the Taiwan ship.
On November 25, two outsourcing workers in Taiwan were carrying out welding and repairing pipelines in the cabin at the bow. Workers surnamed Hong were in the hatch and workers surnamed Chen were in the cabin. Due to the flammable substance inside, the gas explosion occurred during the process. The worker surnamed Hong, who caused the hatch, was shot and died, while the worker surnamed Chen was burned.
On November 28, another floating ship failed. A semi-finished container ship was dragged out of the dock from the dock, which was likely to affect the safety of the hull in the future.
However, relevant units in Taiwan were silent on this and the accident was not exposed on November 26. As for the unprecedented accident on November 28, the Taiwan ship blamed the reason for "full tide leads to tide gap". After the questioning of Taiwanese media, the Taiwan Boat admitted that there was indeed someone who was wrong.
Taiwan Shipping Company, which was entrusted by the Taiwan authorities with an important task, had two major accidents in a row within a week, and public opinion on the island called it "unreliable"! "Another financial black hole." Taiwan's United Daily News pointed out that if Taiwan ships cannot maintain basic on-site work safety, how can they create submarines with excellent performance and unmistakable performance? It’s really “it’s too early to say anything big now.” Many Taiwanese netizens also complained about the Taiwan authorities’ plan. Some netizens sarcastically said, "Be careful to get rid of the bowl, and then it will be a big bad debt, and the people will suffer losses."
During the Bush administration, Taiwan sought to sell its diesel-electric submarines in the United States, but it failed for many reasons. Many years later, Taiwan never waited for the sellers of attacking submarines. Seeing the Chinese mainland's military leap like a leap, its deterrence on Taiwan is increasing day by day, Taiwan decided to build its own diesel-electric submarine fleet. For Taiwan, submarines are ideal weapons for self-defense, which can not only sink the mainland's fleet, but also break through the maritime blockade.
Theoretically, Taiwan’s plan to build a diesel-electric submarine fleet should not be a problem. The global nuclear submarine industry is thriving, while Russia, Japan, France, Germany and other countries are all leaders in the field of diesel-electric attack submarine design. As long as Taiwan pays for money, it is still easy to buy a submarine. But theory is theory. The reality is that with the growth of mainland China's economic strength, the mainland will use this to put pressure on it. Other countries are afraid of being retaliated against by economically and are afraid to sell submarines to Taiwan. In fact, this is just an appearance. The real reason is that Russia, Japan, France, Germany and other countries have established diplomatic relations with China. When establishing diplomatic relations, they admitted that there was only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and that it cannot have any weapons exchanges with Taiwan.
Regarding the need for other countries and regions to help Taiwan build submarines on January 14, 2019, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a regular press conference. Spokesperson Hua Chunying said that we urge the United States and other relevant countries to fully recognize the sensitivity and harm of this matter, and to truly abide by the one-China principle. We do not allow relevant enterprises to participate in Taiwan's "Submarine Manufacturing" project in any form, stop any military ties with Taiwan, and handle Taiwan-related issues prudently and properly, so as not to seriously damage bilateral relations with China and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
However, Taiwan does not have many technologies for self-built submarines, and requires technical support from the United States, Japan and other countries. The technical support needed by Taiwan includes torpedo systems, combat integration, etc. Kropsch, director of the U.S. Maritime Rights Center of the Hudson Institute, Washington think tank, said that Taiwan has many things to do to improve the level of its submarine force to meet the challenges posed by the mainland and the threat of possible force. For example, it is necessary to purchase a Mark 48 torpedo from the United States, which is also the main force of the U.S. Navy submarine, which can track and attack submarines with a submarine depth of 800 meters.
Currently, Taiwan has only 4 submarines. The newer "Sea Dragon" and "Sea Tiger" were purchased from the Netherlands in 1980 and handed over the ship in 1988. The older one is the "Sea Lion" and "Seal" that were built for the US Navy during World War II and handed over to Taiwan in the early 1970s. Since both submarines are old and are not suitable for serving on the front line, the Taiwan military is now used to train the anti-submarine combat troops.
In fact, Taiwan’s ability to make up its mind to build a submarine is inseparable from the United States’ encouragement and support behind the scenes. First, the United States can sell technology and equipment to Taiwan, and second, the United States is happy to see Taiwan confront the mainland and increase its bargaining chips with the mainland. The mainland's military strength has risen rapidly in recent years, and it will not allow Taiwan to act arbitrarily. Once Taiwan takes risks, the mainland will definitely punish it. (Guo Yuma)
