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Taiwan's "Knox" class frigate sets sail. Image courtesy of Taiwan's defense department

China Youth Daily and China Youth Network reporter Zhang Haotian and intern Yang Zikang

At the end of July, Taiwan’s audit department released the “general final accounts audit report” for the previous year, and the dilemma of the combat readiness level of Taiwan’s main naval ships was “accidentally exposed”.

According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, the latest audit report mentioned that as of the end of July last year, maintenance and repair work on more than half of the Taiwan military’s main combat ships was not carried out according to the scheduled schedule, and the actual maintenance period was often longer than the original plan, affecting equipment stability and troop deployment.

The data listed in the report show that the Taiwan military carried out a total of 120 planned repairs and maintenance of ships last year, which was effective in maintaining the maneuverability of ships, but the maintenance management was "not thorough and proper enough". The Taiwan Navy currently has 4 "Keelung" class (US-made "Kidd" class) missile destroyers, 8 "Chenggong" class (US-made "Perry" class built under license) and 2 original "Perry" class (second-hand goods transferred by the United States) missile frigates, 6 "Kangding" class (French "Lafayette" class) missile frigates, and 6 "Jiyang" class (US-made "Knox" class) frigates. These 26 ships are called "first-class ships" and have become the main force of the Taiwan military's surface forces due to their large tonnage and relatively advanced weapons and equipment.

The audit report pointed out that last year, 14 of the 26 ships did not undergo repair and maintenance according to the prescribed cycle, and the actual maintenance cycle was extended by 1 to 10 months. Some ships' main engines, generators and other important components reached the end of their overhaul life before they could be returned to the shipyard for maintenance. In addition, the frequency of unscheduled maintenance increased, making it difficult for equipment to be used normally.

In response to criticism from the audit department, Taiwan’s “Navy Command” said that in the future, when compiling annual ship maintenance plans, it will further focus on the impact of factors such as troop deployment and equipment updates; if the main combat ships cannot be sent for repair as planned due to temporary missions, they will respond by arranging “unplanned maintenance” and other means.

Taiwan's United News Network disclosed that after the audit report was released, some people in the Taiwan military complained. They believed that the maintenance of the ships failed to proceed as planned. The key reason was that due to the situation in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's military ships were frequently dispatched in recent years, and sometimes they were urgently sent to sea before the construction was completed. With such continuous consumption, equipment and personnel are often in a state of fatigue. Some people in the Taiwan military complained: "The audit department is indiscriminate and does not consider objective background factors. It only criticizes 'not following the schedule', which confuses the cause and effect, and inevitably makes people feel 'why not eat meat'."

Insiders also revealed that unscheduled "unplanned maintenance" is often because the ship is ordered to go out to sea after completing basic repairs, and can only use the gap after returning to port to "make up" the unfinished projects. Although the number of days that Taiwan's military ships go out to sea each year is not too many, because they may be deployed at any time, "unplanned tasks" that temporarily start the engine are very frequent, and the wear and tear of the ships is more serious than continuous sailing at sea.

A Taiwanese naval officer told Taiwan's United Daily News that the audit department's conclusion that ship maintenance was not carried out as planned was "unfair"; the tight use of troops and the many temporary situations led to "the plan not keeping up with the changes." Taiwanese media said that in an emergency, if the ship originally to be repaired is delayed in entering the factory due to being out at sea, the completion time node will naturally be postponed, which will have a chain reaction on the next ship originally scheduled to be repaired at the same location.

At present, Taiwan’s warships are facing multiple difficulties, such as aging equipment, lack of upgrade space, and delayed maintenance. In an interview, Taiwan People’s Party representative Chiu Chen-yuan mentioned, “Not only the navy! More than 70% of the (Taiwanese military’s) current weapons are outdated.” According to Taiwan’s “China Times News Network”, in response to the public’s claim that “in addition to the 26DestroyerThe Taiwan Navy also has the newly built Tuojiang-class patrol ships, and frigates. Lu Lishi, a military expert who once served as a captain in the Taiwan Navy, explained that this type of ship has a very obvious problem, that is, the tonnage is insufficient and it is not suitable for tasks such as close-range accompanying navigation. In addition, the Tuojiang-class has a low mast and is not equipped with high-performanceradar, it may not be able to detect the incoming missiles at low altitudes in time. Lu Lishi also mentioned that if the allocation is based on the ratio of "one third combat readiness, one third training, and one third maintenance", the Taiwan military actually does not have many ships available, and coupled with the "low equipment availability rate" and other issues clearly pointed out by the audit department, "I am afraid it will have an impact that is not conducive to combat."

Source: China Youth Daily Client