Taiwan's Home-Grown Submarine to Cost Less
Taiwan's shipbuilder CSBC Corp's chairman Cheng Wen-lon said that a home-grown submarine will cost less than NT$100 billion (US$3.29 billion) to build. According to a report in Taipei Times, chairman of the local shipbuilder commissioned to plan and design the vessel also said that much depends on the Navy’s demands: Planned crew sizes, mission length and strategic and tactical requirements would all determine the eventual size of the submarine. Nationally developed ships would be crucial to the company’s future operations, Cheng said, pledging to place the company’s best personnel on the program. Eariler, all attempts by Taipei to buy a conventional submarine from other countries have been thwarted by a litany of threats from China.
Electronics Retrofit for Taiwanese Research Vessel
L-3 SAM Electronics has been awarded a contract to retrofit propulsion control and automation systems aboard the Taiwanese Navy’s Ta Kuan hydrographic and oceanographic research vessel. The 93-meter-long vessel, built by Fincantieri at its shipyard in Muggiano, La Spezia, Italy in 1995, carries out operations in domestic waters as well as the South China Sea on behalf of Taiwan’s governmental National Science Council and other research institutes. The completion of the retrofit is planned for later this year.
Taiwan Naval Fleet Adds Home-Grown Vessel
Taiwanese Navy formally took delivery Friday of a new locally designed supply vessel that it said will help enhance Taiwan's maritime combat capabilities. In a ceremony hosted in the harbor in Kaohsiung, the vessel was formally turned over to the Navy from local shipbuilder CSBC Corp. Defense Minister Yen Ming co-hosted the delivery ceremony. Christened as Panshih the locally made fast combat support ship will be used to transport fuel, ammunition and other supplies to support warships. Currently, the Navy only has one supply vessel in service, the Wuyi, says the Ministry of National Defense. The Navy will now begin training a crew to familiarize it with the craft before formally putting the ship into service. The vessel is designed as an AOE, in accordance with the U.S.
GE in Talks with Chinese Shipyard
China Ship Building Corporation (CSBC) is in talks with United States’ General Electric (GE) to establish a naval shiprepair facility in Kaohsiung. General Electric provides the gas turbines for the Taiwanese navy. CSBC spokesman Paul Huang said the yard was looking to sign an agreement with the American giant in July and to have a facility adjacent to the shipbuilding base in Kaohsiung up and running by year end. There are more than 30 GE built turbine engines in Taiwan’s navy including the Chengkung-class high speed patrol frigates and American Kidd class destroyers.
