Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Gatekeeper

Brigadier
Registered Member
Deep inside her mind, She knows that Taiwan is a part of China, LOL!!

Yes, and not only she knows that, but also all Taiwan's so called allies knows that (official name if Taiwan is republic of China, for crying out loud)! Only the poor delusional soles like those Hong Kong thugs and a few die hards in Taiwan doesn't want to accept this fact, and thus gets played by foreign entities!
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
noted
Taiwan looks to boost artillery forces to counter China
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Hmmmm.. M109A6 with a RAP round will push 30km but that’s fairly short compared to the long barreled 52 caliber guns. Until the XM1299 comes online, it might be a better idea to wait or see if someone is willing to sell a 52 caliber guns or refit to the 109s.
Alternative I always wondered if the old M110 could get a modernization. That 203mm Howitzers already comes close to M109 RAP round ranges without using such a round. 8” shells even from the short barrel M110 are not something to sneeze at.
 

Skywatcher

Captain
Hmmmm.. M109A6 with a RAP round will push 30km but that’s fairly short compared to the long barreled 52 caliber guns. Until the XM1299 comes online, it might be a better idea to wait or see if someone is willing to sell a 52 caliber guns or refit to the 109s.
Alternative I always wondered if the old M110 could get a modernization. That 203mm Howitzers already comes close to M109 RAP round ranges without using such a round. 8” shells even from the short barrel M110 are not something to sneeze at.
Honestly, I'm surprised that they didn't just give their M109s a 52 caliber barrel domestically.

It'd be a better use of money than buying those Abrams (if the ROC Army wants a mechanized force, then they need to go all in and buy at least a couple divisions, as opposed to that single white elephant regiment/brigade).
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Honestly, I'm surprised that they didn't just give their M109s a 52 caliber barrel domestically.

It'd be a better use of money than buying those Abrams (if the ROC Army wants a mechanized force, then they need to go all in and buy at least a couple divisions, as opposed to that single white elephant regiment/brigade).
It’s not so easy. You need the technology and industrial know how. If it was that easy then the A6 would have a 52 cal gun already. The M109 is a fairly old design the family started in the 1950’s with a 23 caliber gun in the 1970’s and 1980’s it moved up the current 39 caliber gun that was the same time that the 45 caliber was introduced in other nations as Bull sold it.
Taiwan has never built a indigenous howitzer AFAIK. The PRC spent years licensing and buying technologies to build up it’s ability to build modern howitzers.
So you would be looking at a major industrial infrastructure buy.
I know I know but the subs and ships... and fighters. The US hasn’t exported a modern ship in some time and without a modern AIP or diesel there is no way the US would sell a nuclear boat. Taiwan’s indigenous fighter program was lack luster. So they have to go it alone. The PRC of course doesn’t like it when Taiwan gets army boots from abroad let alone attack subs so they do everything in there power to apply pressure to keep exports from happening. Which again restricts them to trying to build at home or buy from the US who is more or less immune to PRC pressure.
In this case the US has the established product the A6 is also fairly proven. It may come up short but it’s better than the current models.
 

Skywatcher

Captain
It’s not so easy. You need the technology and industrial know how. If it was that easy then the A6 would have a 52 cal gun already. The M109 is a fairly old design the family started in the 1950’s with a 23 caliber gun in the 1970’s and 1980’s it moved up the current 39 caliber gun that was the same time that the 45 caliber was introduced in other nations as Bull sold it.
Taiwan has never built a indigenous howitzer AFAIK. The PRC spent years licensing and buying technologies to build up it’s ability to build modern howitzers.
So you would be looking at a major industrial infrastructure buy.
I know I know but the subs and ships... and fighters. The US hasn’t exported a modern ship in some time and without a modern AIP or diesel there is no way the US would sell a nuclear boat. Taiwan’s indigenous fighter program was lack luster. So they have to go it alone. The PRC of course doesn’t like it when Taiwan gets army boots from abroad let alone attack subs so they do everything in there power to apply pressure to keep exports from happening. Which again restricts them to trying to build at home or buy from the US who is more or less immune to PRC pressure.
In this case the US has the established product the A6 is also fairly proven. It may come up short but it’s better than the current models.
The problem with the subs, ships and fighters is that what's been proposed is either in excessive of requirements (i.e the IDF trainer mess, just call it a fighter if you really want a fighter, and accurately represent the costs), or utterly out of sync with reality (the destroyers and Yun Feng come to mind).
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
At the time of the start of IDF the US administration had cracked down on sales of new US fighters. As such there was a need not meet directly eventually the situation changed but for the 1980s it looked like Taiwan was locked out of any outside fighters.
Destroyers again only so many built and time exported. Same for the subs.
 
Aug 16, 2019
29 minutes ago
related:
US Tells Congress of Plans to Sell F-16 Fighters to Taiwan
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(and keyboard warriors got active, LOL)

anyway
Delays mount to Taiwan F-16V upgrade
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  • 23 October, 2019
A programme to upgrade Taiwan’s fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds to the latest V-model standard is running behind schedule, leaving the country facing a capability gap.

Taiwanese defence minister Yen Teh-fa told the country's parliament earlier in October that so far, just ten upgraded fighters have been handed back to the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF).

Local firm Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) is performing the modification at its Taichung facility under contract to Lockheed.

The project had originally envisaged rotating 24 aircraft per year through the AIDC facility from 2016. However, the first four F-16A/Bs were only received by AIDC in January 2017 because of delays to software testing in the USA.

Further schedule slippage meant that the first locally upgraded F-16V was delivered to the RoCAF in October 2018.

The latest programme schedule saw retrofits of batches of four, 24, 27, 34, 36 and 15 aircraft per year between 2018 and 2023. While the target for 2018 was met, only six aircraft have been delivered this year.

Yen attributes the delays to insufficient personnel and expertise at AIDC, compounded by problems with sub-system integration.

To mitigate against additional delays, AIDC has hired 200 additional staff.

According to data revealed by Yen, 32 aircraft are in various stages of upgrade or awaiting modification, representing nearly one-quarter of the RoCAF’s fleet of 145 F-16s.

Sixteen of these are based in the USA for training and upgrade validation work, further reducing the number of frontline fighters.

Parliament also heard how the budget for the F-16V upgrade programme has increased twice: from NT$110 billion ($3.7 billion) when the contract was signed in 2012, to NT$140.2 billion this year, with additional weapons and avionics driving the cost rise.

In addition, the RoCAF is seeking an additional NT$9.8 billion to purchase more reconnaissance sensors.

Taiwan is also awaiting Congressional approval for the acquisition of 66 new-build F-16V Block 70 aircraft via the USA’s Foreign Military Sales mechanism.
 
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