Perry-class frigate USS Oliver Hazard Perry
The ROC’s Central News Agency reports on Nov. 21, 2013 that the first two Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates purchased by Taiwan from the United States are expected to be delivered in 2015, Navy Chief of Staff Kao Tien-chung said Thursday.
During a hearing of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, Kao said the two warships, which cost NT$5.2 billion, will replace two Knox-class frigates that are in the worst condition in the entire fleet.
The ships are part of an order of four Perry-class frigates that the U.S. government has agreed to sell Taiwan.
On Wednesday, Nov. 20, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs unanimously agreed to introduce legislation that would authorize the sale of the four frigates, namely the USS Taylor (FFG-50), USS Gary (FFG-51), USS Carr (FFG-52) and USS Elrod (FFG-55), to Taiwan. The four warships were commissioned between 1984 and 1985 and, except for the USS Gary which was decommissioned in March, are all in active service.
Kao also said that between 2015 and 2018, Taiwan will design and build one salvage ship prototype and another amphibious warfare ship on its own.
The AAV-7 amphibious assault vehicles carry troops from ship to shore along with supplies.
The ROC Navy is also planning to buy 36 used AAV-7 assault amphibious vehicles from the United States. With its river-crossing ability, the AAV-7 will help strengthen the mobility and expeditionary capabilities of Taiwan’s Marine Corps.
Ruling Kuomintang Legislator Lin Yu-fang, however, questioned the necessity of the purchases given that the military already has 54 AAV-7s. Equipped with 50-caliber machine guns and 40-mm automatic grenades, the AAV-7 is not powerful enough, and it does not necessarily have better mobility than wheeled armored vehicles, Lin said. He suggested that the military consider acquiring more Taiwan-made Yunpao CM-32 eight-wheel armored vehicles to meet its needs.
Yunpao (Cloud Leopard) CM-32 eight-wheel armored vehicle
See also:
- “Taiwan denies plan to retire all Knox-class warships,” Oct. 12, 2013.
- “Taiwan wants to buy submarines from U.S.,” Oct. 26, 2013.
- “Taiwan to receive first batch of latest-model Apache attack helicopters,” Oct. 18, 2013.
- “Taiwan receives first of P-3C anti-submarine aircraft from U.S.,” Sept. 27, 2013.
Consortium of Defense Analysts 
Reblogged this on Brittius.com.
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I dont think Lin Yu-fang has complete information about the capability of AAV7. As per him Taiwan-made Yunpao CM-32 is more powerful than AAV7. In my Openion we should compere both the vehicles before we do any these kind of statements. AAV7 is more powerful than of Yunao whether it is armament or self-protection, engine or cruising speed AAV7 is a clear winner
here are the two informative articles about AAV7 and Yupnao … check them out and you will know the difference …
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/aav7a1assault/
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/cm-32-yunpao-armoured-personnel-carrier/
But when we consider the pricing Yupnao comes cheaper than AAV7 as it is made in Taiwan.
Please correct me if I am wrong, would love to hear more.
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I would support domestic projects and also purchase the ship to shore also, t would different platforms, the wheeled can be a platform for heavy weapons, so it’s important and the other is for fast attack and mobility.
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Taiwan has no need to spend any money on anything to do with amphibious warfare IF they are doing so with the intended mission of using it to actually land on beaches from ships. This can only be part of some absurdly misplaced strategy of actually thinking Taiwan is ever going to attack and seize islands or even (HAHAHAHA) China itself, as if it was still 1950 and as if the Republic of Taiwan EVER had even the slightest chance of succeeding at taking even the tiniest of islands (much less China itself) away from the Communists by force. If, however, their reason for buying AAV-7s is to increase mobility while fighting on Taiwan itself by increasing their river-crossing capability (as mentioned in the article above), then that’s a legitimate mission and a good use of their money.
The sooner that any last hold-outs living on Taiwan (or elsewhere) stop thinking they are the Republic of China and have ANY claim whatsoever to any of China, and start realizing they are the Republic of Taiwan and they ONLY have claim to the islands they currently control, then the better for themselves (i.e., the island country to the east of the mainland of Asia, and is not China), for China (i.e., the foreign country to their west that is part of the mainland of Asia, and is not Taiwan), and for the world. So to the extent any of their military budget and strategy has anything to do with them trying to remain “China” it is a waste and misspent, but to the extent it is directed to defending their country of Taiwan then it is proper–and I wish Taiwan would increase their defense spending while they’re at it.
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