WorldNetDaily December 25, 2002
Taiwan keeping old subs afloat: Island still waits for new vessels promised by U.S.
By Jon Dougherty
Taiwan has managed to keep its two vintage U.S.-made submarines seaworthy as it waits for eight new ones promised by Washington last year, but the island democracy's underwater fleet remains woefully behind that of rival China.
The older Guppy II-class diesel-electric boats, built by the United States during World War II, are still combat-capable despite their age, Taiwan navy officials have told Jane's Defense Weekly in a report to be published next week.
"Torpedo rooms forward and aft were operational and both carried test torpedoes," said Jane's in its report after observing the SS-791 Hai Shih in action.
The weekly also said the boats remain capable of laying mines as well.
The other vintage sub is the SS-792 Hai Bao.
Naval officials said the subs are mainly used for training purposes and do not perform combat patrols - a good thing, say some experts, because the subs' World War II technology is woefully inadequate for modern undersea warfare.
Other analyses say the Guppies are nearing the end of their useful life.
"When refurbished in the early 1960s, the boats could dive to 415 feet, though by the late 1990s they were lucky to reach 200 feet," says an assessment by GlobalSecurity.org. "The boats are noisy and Taiwan is experiencing difficulty in obtaining spare parts."
Taiwan's navy has only two other subs - a pair of Dutch-built, diesel electric boats designated by the island as Hai Lung-class subs.
Naval officials said the vintage subs, sold by the U.S. to Taiwan in 1972, still have some usefulness despite their advanced age. They have special operations capabilities and could be employed effectively against unsophisticated targets like troop transport ships - several of which would be needed in the event China were to invade Taiwan.
"Like Russia, China is replacing quantity with quality in its submarine upgrade program. Its current conventional submarine force is largely obsolete," but is being replaced with smaller numbers of more modern subs, said one U.S. Navy intelligence assessment.
The Bush administration agreed to sell Taiwan eight new submarines last April, though no date has yet been set for delivery.
General Dynamics and Litton Group's Ingalls Shipbuilding firms, both U.S. companies, will build the submarines, U.S. officials said.
In an April 2001 interview, a spokesman at Ingalls confirmed to WND that the company "is in negotiations" to build submarines for Taiwan, but offered no further details.
He added that Ingalls "hasn't built submarines since the 1970s," when it built nine nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy.
Agence France-Presse reported Nov. 19, 2001 that seven shipbuilding companies had submitted plans to the U.S. for Taiwan's submarines.
The two most prominent diesel submarine makers - Germany and the Netherlands - have said they would not sell subs to Taiwan for fear of alienating China.
However, a May 2001 report said a third unnamed country had assured the U.S. it would assist in building the submarines prior to the Bush administration's offer to sell them to Taiwan.
That country may be Israel, which, according to a July report in Ha'aretz, has conditionally offered to provide key planning input in the construction of Dolphin-class submarines in an American shipyard.
Israel has three German-made Dolphin-class subs that, according to reports, are capable of launching nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.
The Jewish state's condition is that its involvement in the submarine deal between the United States and Taiwan not adversely affect its own relations with China.
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
