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【Text/Observer.com Bobcat】

According to Taiwan’s United News Network yesterday, Taiwan’s audit department released the Taiwan authorities’ “General Final Accounts Audit Report” for last year on the 29th of this month. The report made key comments on the Taiwan Navy, saying that as of the end of July last year, more than half of the main combat ships had maintenance and repair operations “not in accordance with the scheduled schedule”, and the actual maintenance period was too long, affecting the stability of equipment and the deployment of troops.

However, the Taiwan military expressed "grievance" about this, and some officials privately complained that the ship maintenance could not be carried out according to the original plan. The key reason was that in recent years, facing the "continuous pressure" of the PLA's naval and air forces, the ships had to be deployed frequently, and some even had to go out to sea urgently before the construction was completed. The long-term continuous consumption has caused the equipment and personnel to be in a state of fatigue. Taiwan military officials said that the audit department was indiscriminate and did not consider objective background factors. It only criticized "not following the schedule" and so on, which inevitably made people feel "why not eat meat".

Taiwan’s “Navy Command” responded to the report by saying that it will further focus on the impact of troop deployment, equipment updates, etc. when compiling the annual ship maintenance plan. If a ship cannot be sent for repair as planned due to temporary mission execution, it will arrange “unplanned maintenance” and other measures to deal with it.

The report mentioned that the Taiwan Navy carried out planned repair and maintenance of 120 ships last year, which was effective in maintaining the maneuverability of ships, but was "not thorough and proper" in the management of maintenance operations. The Taiwan Navy currently has 4 "Keelung" class (US-made "Kidd" class) missile destroyers, 8 "Chenggong" class (licensed construction of US-made "Perry" class) and 2 original second-hand US-made "Perry" class missile frigates, 6 "Kangding" class (French "Lafayette" class) missile frigates and 6 "Jiyang" (US-made "Knox" class) class frigates. These 26 destroyers and frigates are also called "first-class ships" in the Taiwan Navy and are undisputed main battleships. Last year, 14 of the 26 ships did not perform repair and maintenance according to the prescribed cycle, and the actual maintenance cycle was extended by one to ten months compared with the regulations. This situation also caused some important components such as the main engine and generator set of some ships to reach the overhaul life (when they failed to receive maintenance). In addition, the increase in the frequency of unscheduled maintenance has also affected the stability of equipment use and the deployment and use of troops.

Taiwan’s naval personnel at all levels also told the media that this conclusion was “unfair”, believing that the key was that the use of troops was tight and there were many temporary situations, which led to “the plan not keeping up with the changes”. If, in an emergency situation, the ship originally scheduled for maintenance was sent out to sea and delayed entering the factory, then the completion and delivery of the ship would naturally be postponed, and the next ship scheduled to be repaired in the same place would inevitably be affected. Taiwan military officials said that “unplanned maintenance” outside the schedule is often that the ship is dispatched to sea after completing only basic repairs, and the unfinished projects are made up during the gap after returning to port. The official also said that although the number of days that Taiwan’s military ships go to sea each year is not high on the surface, due to the need to be dispatched at any time, the “unplanned tasks” of temporarily starting the ship’s engines for preparation are extremely frequent, so the loss to the ship is higher than continuous sailing at sea.

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