Why Taiwan Wants Submarines

So let’s have one, or maybe two, hearty huzzah!s for last week’s announcement that the United States will help Taiwan construct a fleet of diesel submarines. The Taiwan Navy can integrate these denizens of the shallows into a people’s-war-at-sea strategy that’s sure to give any invading force fits.

Inventively deployed alongside shore-based anti-ship missiles and fleet-of-foot surface craft like the navy’s new Hsun Hai and Kuang Hua VI missile boats, subs can add that (mostly) missing undersea dimension to Taipei’s offshore defense.

Up, down, and out! as U.S. Navy surface-ship mariners used to say. Gee … I wonder why no one thought of this before?

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