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Plans for indigenous submarines being evaluated: defense minister

ROC Central News Agency

2014/03/06 17:44:30

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) The military has commissioned experts to evaluate a plan for developing and building indigenous submarines, alongside efforts to purchase subs from the United States, Defense Minister Yen Ming said Thursday.

Acquiring new submarines is a top priority of the military as part of its policy for dealing with asymmetric threats, Yen told lawmakers during a legislative hearing.

The military will go ahead with the indigenous submarine plan if it is determined feasible by the experts, he said.

If the United States also agrees to sell submarines to Taiwan, the military will seek further discussions with the U.S. about details of a partial technology transfer to help Taiwan's submarine-building efforts, he went on.

Technology, design plans and equipment are the main problems Taiwan will face in building indigenous models, the minister added.

The U.S. government approved the sale of eight diesel-powered submarines to Taiwan in 2001, but no progress has been made on the project since then.

Over the years, however, Taiwan has managed to purchase a wide range of weapons from the United States, including submarine-launched Harpoon missiles, AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft and Patriot-III anti-missile systems.

In a written report to the Legislature, the Defense Ministry said it will continue to seek to buy defensive weapons from foreign countries that Taiwan is not capable of building on its own.

At the same time, it will work to enhance its ability to build weapons and equipment that are sensitive, crucial and difficult to obtain from foreign countries, the ministry said.

(By Claudia Liu and Y.F. Low)
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