18 b
Developing Roles Taiwan’s navy charts a new course with the addition of its newest ship Michal Thim
W
hat are the most important warships of the World nations’ respective navies? A single nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the US Navy boasts greater firepower than most national air forces, and the combined strength of a carrier and other warships assigned to protect it present force to be reckoned with. China, too, has been acquiring modern combat vessels, including the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s latest generation of guided missile destroyers, the Type 052D. As for Republic of China Navy (ROCN) protecting Taiwan, the leading ships of the ROCN’s Surface
Action Groups (SAG) are Keelung-class (ex-USS Kidd-class) destroyers, originally built for the prerevolution Iranian Navy and transferred to Taiwan in 2005-2006. If not the Keelung-class destroyer then maybe the French-built Lafayette-class frigates would be considered the most important (or most modern) assets of the navy. Some would perhaps single out the new stealthy fast missile corvettes of the Tuo Jiang class, that do not impress much in terms of total displacement, but pack a formidable punch with 16 anti-ship missiles on board. However, what if we rephrase that question and ask
photo: ROC DND With the addition of the Panshih, Taiwan’s navy will be able to sustain operations further from its shores, allowing it to contribute to regional security.
Michal Thim is is a postgraduate research student in the Taiwan Studies Program at the China Policy Institute (CPI), University of Nottingham and a Research Fellow at the Prague-based think-tank Association for International Affairs. Michal tweets @michalthim.