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In October, the United States announced a proposed $11.25 billion arms deal involving the sale of four Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships to Saudi Arabia. If Congress approves the sale, the four Saudi LCSs will be configured differently than the U.S. Navy versions. For one, the Saudi versions will definitely have an area air-defense system which the U.S. versions do not have. Additionally, the Saudi ships will be equipped with RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles which can destroy aircraft or supersonic cruise missiles from up to 30 miles away — along with Harpoon Block II surface-to-surface missiles. It’s a formidable...

The Republic of China Navy (ROCN), or Taiwan Navy, has an ambitious vision for its future strategy. According to the “ROC Navy Vision,” which is available on the Navy’s website, “Based on the guidance of ‘Command and control automation, Three-dimensional mobile strike capabilities and Missile-oriented weapon system,’ and through measures such as enhancing intelligence reconnaissance and surveillance, extending strike zone depth, expanding combat radius, accelerating response and contingency protection, the Navy aims to construct an effective deterring and three-dimensional mobile strike force that is elite, highly efficient, rapidly deployable, and capable of performing long range strikes” [1]. In other words,...

The first two of four Kidd-class destroyers sold to Taiwan by the United States are due to arrive at the weekend, bolstering the navy's defense capabilities against rival China, a navy spokesman said Tuesday. The two destroyers, which were first refitted for Taiwan's use at a US naval shipyard, were scheduled to arrive Saturday at the Suao naval base in the island's northeast, naval lieutenant-commander Wu Chih-chieh told AFP. A formal commissioning ceremony has been set for mid-December, he said, adding that Taiwan would take delivery of the remaining two destroyers in 2006. The four Kidd-class destroyers, originally built for...

TAIPEI - Taiwan's parliament has demanded a 15-per-cent price cut for the navy's planned purchase of four Kidd-class destroyers from the United States, it was reported yesterday. A team of naval officers left for the US yesterday to discuss the discount which the Taiwanese parliament demanded while approving the arms purchase budget, the China Times said. If successful, the 'bargaining trip' could save Taiwan up to NT$4.3 billion (S$216 million), it said. The navy declined to comment on the report. The Defence Ministry has proposed to acquire the four second-hand warships for US$875 million (S$1.5 billion). The US Defence Security...