Soyuz said:
Have those Kidd class destroyers been sold on to taiwan? I remember reading that the U.S were offering them to the Taiwanese as an alternative to supplying them with aegis technology.
My understanding is that they have already been sold to the ROC. I am not sure if they were a part of the defense bill that has been tied up in the ROC legislature or not. If not, they may already be over there being prepared for outfitting, training, etc.
The KIDDs were called AEGIS light here in the US because of how strong their all around capabilities were, particularly in AAW with the two twin launchers that were the same as the CGNs at the time In addition, they can be controlled and managed by an AEGIS capable CG or DDG (Tico or Burke) and this has to be part of the reason they will be so valuable to the ROCN.
If the US fights alongside them, then US Aegis vessels can make the most of their capabilities...or if the ROC ultimately obtains AEGIS vessels themselves, and I believe they may well, then they will be able to integrate them into a battle space environment in that fashion themselves.
Even by themselves, IMHO, the KIDDs are probably the most capableDDGs in the region now, short of the Japanese Kongos or US AEGIS vessels.