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Taiwan
ChinaMilitary

Taiwan scraps US$1.1 billion mini missile assault boat project

  • Island’s navy says the plan to build 60 vessels was cancelled because the design did not meet its needs
  • While the cancellation is estimated to cost US$7 million, the defence ministry says design and development could be used on future projects

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Taiwan’s defence ministry has started mass producing home-grown Tuo Jiang-class missile corvettes to boost the island’s asymmetric warfare strength. Photo: Reuters
Lawrence Chung
Taiwan’s navy is scrapping an NT$31.6 billion (US$1.1 billion) project to build 60 mini missile assault boats originally aimed to boost the island’s asymmetric warfare ability against the mainland, a reversal that is expected to cost NT$200 million.

In a statement on Monday, the navy said the project, proposed by former chief of the general staff admiral Lee Hsi-ming, was cancelled because the boat design could not meet its needs against an enemy.

“The boat completed the mock tests of its [missile] platform in 2020 and the results showed that because of its smaller size, the boat’s [stability] would be affected by weather and rough seas, thus affecting the accuracy of the firing of missiles, and that is why it did not meet our combat need,” the navy statement said.

“To avoid wasting the defence investment funds, the navy has reported the case to the legislature [which reviewed the budget] and ended the project with the consent of the defence ministry.”

The island’s legislature gave its initial support to the micro-class missile assault boat project in 2018, but asked to see a prototype before committing to the full funding package for the planned 60 vessels.

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