Taiwan launches a new amphibious assault ship in preparation for a possible confrontation with China
The Taiwan Navy took delivery of an amphibious landing ship on Friday that can be used to disembark troops and strengthen supply lines to vulnerable islands near the People's China cosat. A major improvement in Taipei's defense capabilities.
The ship, built in national shipyards, is part of President Tsai Ing-wen's defense self-sufficiency policy.
The Yushan, which weighs 10,600 tons and is named after the tallest mountain in Taiwan, is the latest addition to Tsai's ambitious program to modernize the military, amid growing pressure from mainland China, which claims the island as its own.
Speaking at the handover ceremony in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, Tsai said the warship is a testament to Taiwan's efforts to increase production of its own warships and achieve the goal of "national defense autonomy".
"When it comes to China's military threats, only by strengthening our self-defense capabilities can we have real peace," he said.
"It is our constant policy and determination to implement national defense autonomy so that the armed forces have the best equipment to defend the country."
US Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the issue of the Chinese threat at the start of her tour of Asia
Last month, the People's Liberation Army conducted military exercises near the island in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei. The military activity of the PLA continued, albeit at a reduced pace.
Built by the state-backed CSBC Corporation Taiwan, the ship is equipped to strike air and surface threats, with US-made Phalanx fast-firing anti-aircraft and anti-missile guns, anti-aircraft missiles and a cannon.
CSBC President Cheng Wen-lung said that, in addition to being an amphibious warship capable of accommodating landing craft and helicopters, the ship will assume the "main transport role" for the South China Sea and Taiwanese islands. offshore near the mainland coast have long been considered easy targets for the PLA in the event of war.
The United States is Taiwan's main international arms supplier, but Tsai has strengthened the domestic war industry to try to make Taiwan as self-sufficient as possible.
Although the Taiwan Air Force has benefited from large investments, such as new and upgraded F-16s, the navy is another Tsai target, with submarines in production and the launch in 2020 of the first of a fleet of highly maneuverable stealth corvettes. One way to try to counterbalance Beijing's excessive power at least locally.
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The article Taiwan launches a new amphibious assault ship in preparation for the possible confrontation with China comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/taiwan-vara-una-nuova-nave-da-assalto-anfibia-in-preparazione-del-possibile-confronto-con-la-cina/ on Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:00:19 +0000.