Pete has been working with Sebastien Roblin to produce a The National Interest article of
August 4, 2018, which includes the points:
"...the United States,
is willing to assist in building submarines [for Taiwan]. Indeed, in April
2018 the State Department approved a marketing license for submarine parts to
Taiwan, including a Combat Management System. Taiwan already possesses licenses
for Mark 48 torpedoes and Harpoon missiles." but
"European countries are wary of inciting Beijing’s
wrath, though the Dutch RH Marine [see ISM article] did recently agree to overhaul Taiwan’s
Zwaardvis[/Hai Lung]-class submarines in 2022".
PETE COMMENT
Yes US, European and Asian companies are pretty reticent about publicising that they have helped or will help Taiwan. Since April 4 I've located an additional company that already has an export license to help Taiwan on submarines, hence can help the future submarine project.
This DefenseNews article of April 4, 2016 indicates:
"... Taiwan Navy
sources say that Navy leadership are leaning towards an off-the-shelf solution,
such as that being proposed by Lockheed Martin based on its SUBICS (SUBmarine
Integrated Combat System) system, instead of an indigenous combat system
solution to be developed by CSIST, presumably with foreign technical
assistance."
[And the
following is pretty definitive for the 2016 AND most probably also the future Taiwanese submarine
project]
"US Government sources confirm that Lockheed Martin
had received the export license earlier in [2016] to assist Taiwan in submarine
combat system and other submarine-related work."
Pete
Interesting the Taiwan News August 21, 2018 report https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3511598
ReplyDelete"TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - Retired experts from Japan’s Mitsubishi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries will visit Taiwan next month to present a report on Taiwan’s domestic submarine program, reports said [on August 21].
Given that other countries are no longer prepared to supply the island nation with submarines due to pressure from China, the government of President Tsai Ing-wen has been pursuing the local manufacturing of submarines, with 2024 as the date for the first inauguration."
PETE COMMENT
The US$1.6 billion quoted as the total value of the contract is too low to design and build several submarines. Presumably that figure is just for the design phase, mainly incorporating existing technology.