ANNUAL REPORT

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• Naval combat system: Taiwan is developing the Hsun Lien
combat system with which it will equip ships across the Taiwan
Navy. 162 With Hsun Lien, Taiwan seeks to develop a combat
system that can track and engage numerous targets in various
domains in order to enhance Taiwan’s fleet air defense
against China’s antiship cruise missiles as well as the Taiwan
Navy’s ability to attack the PLA Navy’s surface combatants
and submarines. 163
• Submarines: Taiwan is moving ahead with its plan to indigenously
build submarines with foreign assistance. The Tsai Administration
has expressed hope that the U.S. government will
assist with this process. 164 Taiwan has begun to design the indigenous
submarine, a stage it hopes to complete by 2019, and
announced the opening of its development center. 165 Taiwan
currently has four submarines; two are operational Zwaardvisclass
submarines and two are decommissioned U.S. Navy
GUPPY-class submarines (which have undergone upgrades
since the 1940s) used only for training. 166 The Taiwan Navy’s
already limited ability to conduct antisurface warfare against
China’s expanding fleet of modern surface ships will continue
to erode as Taiwan’s submarine force ages.
Taiwan also seeks to enhance its military capabilities through
procurement of military platforms and weapons systems from overseas.
Select military equipment Taiwan is acquiring from the
United States * includes the following (see also the discussion on
arms sales, military-to-military contacts, and U.S.-Taiwan defense
relations in ‘‘U.S.-Taiwan Relations,’’ later in this section):
• F–16 fighter upgrade: Taiwan and the United States continue
to move forward with the upgrade of Taiwan’s 144 F–16 A/B
fighter aircraft. Following the initial flight in October 2015 of
the first two upgraded fighters, which were built by Lockheed
Martin, the chairman of the board of Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial
Development Corporation announced in May 2016 that
the company’s facility in Taiwan—where the upgrade for the
rest of the fleet will occur—is projected to be completed by the
end of 2016, and the upgrade will begin in 2017. 167 The most
important part of the upgrade is the installation of active electronically
scanned array scalable agile beam radar made by
Northrup Grumman. 168 This radar will enable Taiwan’s F–16s
to better detect China’s advanced combat aircraft. 169
• P–3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft: By July 2016, Taiwan
was projected to receive the remaining two of 12 P–3C antisubmarine
aircraft it purchased from the United States in 2007
(they had not been delivered at the time this Report went to
print). 170 The P–3Cs, which began arriving in 2013, will replace
the Taiwan Air Force’s fleet of 11 S–2T antisubmarine
aircraft that have been in service for over 40 years. 171 The P–
3C will increase the capabilities and endurance of the Taiwan
* Although the United States is Taiwan’s most important source of advanced military equipment,
companies based in Germany and Singapore, among other countries, supplied technology
for Taiwan’s TUO JIANG-class missile corvette. Wendell Minnick, ‘‘Taiwan Navy Accepts New
Catamaran,’’ Defense News, December 31, 2014.
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