Taiwan’s Navy Gets Stealthy

News that Taiwan is set to get some stealthy fast patrol boats is welcome. But without some daring personnel, it might come to nothing.

Huzzah! The Taipei Times’ J. Michael Cole broke the story this weekend that Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan has levied funds to field a squadron of between seven and eleven stealthy Hsun Hai (Swift Sea) fast patrol boats by 2014. Computer generated images depict a sleek catamaran that resembles a smaller sibling of USS Independence, a variant of the U.S. Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship. Each new craft will reportedly displace around 500 tons while sporting eight domestically manufactured Hsiung Feng-II and -III antiship cruise missiles. To all appearances, the Hsun Hai constitutes a marked improvement over the ungainly Kuang Hua VI fast attack craft currently serving in the Republic of China Navy (ROCN). It packs twice the wallop of the Kuang Hua VI. It appears more stealthy, with fewer sharp angles and protuberances to attract unwanted attention from Chinese radars. And with its catamaran hull and low profile, the new man-of-war should be able to handle rough seas in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere rather than bobbing around like a top. The plan for a Hsun Hai squadron looks like a good start.

The operating environment constitutes both challenge and opportunity for ROCN mariners. Think about Joseph Conrad’s description of the turbulent waters adjoining the island: “The China seas north and south…are seas full of everyday, eloquent facts, such as islands, sand-banks, reefs, swift and changeable currents – tangled facts that nevertheless speak to a seaman in clear and definite language.” The language of

The Chinese already have a full sized carrier launched and in quals (albeit a STOBAR design).

See:

The PLA Navy Aircraft Carrier
http://www.jeffhead.com/worldwideaircraftcarriers/varyag.htm

and:

The Rising Sea Dragon in Asia
http://www.jeffhead.com/redseadragon/

The ROCN has a very good and modern Airforce of their own which I believe will be able to prevent air dominance or even superiotiry until the US arrives to swing the balance in their favor decidedly. During that time, the Kidd Class DDGs that the ROCN has, and all the Patriot Batteries they have, will provide very effective medium-long to range anti-air coverage.

If the PLAN carrier comes in range (which they would be crazy to do) they could be hit by ROCN aircraft and vessels.

My expectation is, that with the US getting involved in the case of a hostile PRC takeover attempt of Taiwan, that the Chinese carrier will wisely stay in port and not enter the fray at all, hoping the US will not try and hit it.

The ROCN will not be a pushover by any stretch for the PLAN, even with the advances the PLAN is making.

If the ROCN gets its modern diesel electric subs, and with US sub capability, I doubt the PLAN will make many inroads across the straits...it will be a sub war in the straits until that part of it is decided, and the winner will then have a chance to control the straits, but only after they reduce the other side’s air power.

Your scenario is too optimistic and actually quite unrealistic.

A “good modern airforce” is a good thing to have if your enemy is a puny third world country.....but we are talking about CHINA here. Militarily China is next only to the United States. Let alone “air superiority” or “air dominance”, even basic air defense would be tough ask for Taiwan in the event of a full scale Chinese attack.

The Kidd Class destroyers are good, but no good against a large flotilla of Chinese subs. And I am even more skeptical of Patriot Batteries providing effective aircover. Let alone the fact that PACs missile system is not 100% reliable, the Chinese missile barrage can overwhelm the Taiwanese missile defense.

“If the PLAN carrier comes in range (which they would be crazy to do) they could be hit by ROCN aircraft and vessels.”

Assuming there are any aircraft and vessels still left operational after Chinese missile barrage.....they will be taken out by a massive wave of Chinese air strike before they can even start counting the number of aircrafts coming towards them.

And if I was a Taiwanese I wouldn't put my money on US involvement. It took this long for US to sell Taiwan modern F-16s. What makes you think US will enter a sh** fight to save Taiwan?

It is only now that US wants to sell Taiwan modern F-16s after holding back for so many years. In all these years China hasn't quite been sitting idle with their modernization plans. They are already on to stealthy 5th gen fighters and ACs. Chinese Sukhois are fairly modern with the additional advantage of longer ranger and greater payload. Taiwanese F-16s and Mirages are already kinda long in the tooth while PLAAF have been inducting newer generation aircrafts and UCAVs into their inventory. China has been inducting subs at a faster rate then even US. And their naval assault wont be without completely air support. You cannot take on a CBG thats has multi-tier defensive screens along with submarine fleet, networked air support.... with a few second hand US frigates and some stealthy fast attack ships.

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