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.