10 August 2016
Taiwan, which is developing its own fleet of submarines to protect the island nation, could use American naval expertise to help make the vessels a reality, according to two Asia experts.
Taiwan launched its Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) program in 2014 after it was unable to reach a deal to buy eight new diesel-powered submarines from the United States. But to complete work on the 1,500- to 2,500-ton vessels, Taiwan's navy would benefit greatly from program management assistance and technical support from the United States, said Richard Fisher, senior fellow for Asian military affairs at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, and Ian Easton, research fellow at the Project 2049 Institute.
"Taiwan has never before designed and built such a large submarine, and simply devising the program for such an undertaking is a very complex task in organization," Fisher said. "The U.S. has extensive experience in managing complex weapons programs. In addition, the U.S. could provide critical submarine technologies like combat control systems, sonar and submarine weapons."
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