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Taiwan’s Interest in Aegis Warships: Would They Make Operational Sense During Cross-Strait Hostilities?

Ben Wan Beng Ho and Shang-Su Wu
RUSI Defence Systems, 31 October 2016
China, Maritime Forces
Taiwan has unveiled a $15-billion indigenous naval shipbuilding plan that seeks to wean the Republic of China Navy (RoCN) off foreign acquisitions and deliver twelve new platform initiatives between 2017 and 2040. Particularly eye-catching amongst these programmes is the idea of an Aegis warship

The Taiwanese Aegis platform would be a 6,000–8,000-ton destroyer equipped with the vertical-launch system and radar suite which make up the Aegis system. While this plan is not yet confirmed, it comes on the back of Taiwanese interest in acquiring Aegis which dates back to the 1990s. Therefore, it is important to consider whether it makes operational sense for the Republic of China Navy (RoCN) to acquire Aegis to counter the military of the People’s Republic of China during a conflict.

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