Taiwan has begun building its first new submarines in a generation. And when the boats enter service starting around 2025, they could help to tilt the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait—toward Taipei.
The United States President Joe Biden admin approved the sale of all sensitive submarine parts and tech to Taiwan for its new SSK program.
Taipei aims to acquire as many as eight boats. They will replace two Zwaardvis-class boats that Taiwan acquired from the Netherlands in 1987 and 1988 and two U.S.-made Tench- and Balao-class boats that Taipei bought in 1973.
The new subs feature a double hull—a rare design feature in non-Russian boats—plus lithium-ion batteries for underwater propulsion. Their armament includes Mark 48 torpedoes and Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
The Taiwanese navy plans to deploy the new submarines in the anti-shipping role, targeting the Chinese ships that would carry an invasion force across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.
The Chinese fleet could struggle to detect the Taiwanese boats before they attack. “The shallow, noisy waters of the Taiwan Strait greatly favour submarines over air and surface [anti-submarine warfare] forces,” said Owen Cote, a submarine expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
It doesn’t necessarily matter that the Chinese navy possesses around 70 attack submarines of its plus scores of sonar-equipped surface warships and maritime patrol planes. These forces are not a strong defence against even a small flotilla of Taiwanese subs.
With inputs from Forbes
