Taiwan Looks to Develop Unmanned Vessels, Minesweepers

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan’s military is inviting companies to propose designs for a new series of uncrewed ships. It's part of an effort to modernize the navy and counter increasing Chinese aggression in the Taiwan Strait.

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00:00Taiwan's Navy is looking for private sector help to modernize its fleet.

00:09On Tuesday the military reported two dozen Chinese fighter jets operating near the country

00:15along with six naval ships.

00:17This daily pressure around Taiwan's maritime border is pushing its armed forces to explore

00:22new ways to boost its defense capabilities.

00:26The Navy is now looking to private companies to design and develop new uncrewed ships capable

00:32of laying and clearing sea mines.

00:35Lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, are also encouraging the use

00:39of new tech to boost Taiwan's defense.

00:56Taiwan's Navy uses a variety of old U.S. warships that have been upgraded and refurbished

01:08as Taiwan tries to develop its own shipbuilding industry.

01:12But much of its fleet is more than 30 years old and there are concerns over how effective

01:16these ships would actually be in a conflict with China.

01:20Analysts at Taiwan's government-backed think tank, the INDSR, say fewer ships and a shift

01:25to uncrewed vessels could be a good first step to modernizing the Navy.

01:30If you use fewer ships, you can carry out more tasks in a longer period of time.

01:36If it can be automated, it will solve the problem of the ship's ability to locate itself

01:42and the ability to track the surrounding sea mines.

01:47But to truly modernize, observers say that Taiwan's Navy might need to change its strategy,

01:52shifting to weapons like sea mines that can disrupt an adversary and boost Taiwan's deterrence

01:58against Chinese ships.

02:00Sea mines are really challenging for any Navy to deal with because you have to locate them,

02:05you have to clear them.

02:06If a ship hits one of them, it's blocking the path.

02:10And the question then becomes for Taiwan is how do you very quickly deliver those mines

02:16when needed.

02:17The bidding process for the new uncrewed ships will conclude in just over a month.

02:22But for now, Taiwan's Navy awaits proposals from local companies to support its military

02:27modernization efforts.

02:29Fu Huahong and Jaime O'Connor for Taiwan Plus.

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