Taiwan recently announced that in 2013 it plans to begin retrofitting Harpoon Block II antiship missiles into its Dutch-built submarines, the Hai Hu (pictured here) and sister Hai Lung. The Block II variant of the Harpoon antiship missile has a range of more than 60 miles and includes upgrades allowing it to operate in crowded littoral regions. The weapon also includes a GPS guidance system for land-attack capability. The Harpoon missile first entered service with the U.S. Navy in 1977, and successful sea trials of the export-only Block II variant were first conducted in June 2001. Taiwan’s submarine capabilities are in dire need of upgrade; its small fleet includes only the two Hai Lung boats that entered service in the late 1980s, plus two World War II–era Guppy II–class submarines transferred from the United States in 1973. The new Harpoon missiles will provide a significant offensive boost to these limited submarine capabilities, which until now had only included torpedoes and mines. Current plans also call for the Taiwanese submarine fleet to acquire modern Mk-48 torpedoes, replacing the aging German-built SUT weapons now in service on board the Hai Hu and Hai Lung.
Taiwan also announced the retirement of two long-serving guided-missile patrol craft in December. The sister ships Lung Chiang and Sui Chiang (pictured here) first entered service in 1978 and 1983 respectively. The first unit was built in Tacoma, Washington, and the second was built to a slightly modified design by the China Shipbuilding Corporation in Kaohsiung. The 240-ton vessels measure 50 meters in length and were armed with four 40-km-ranged Hsiung Feng I antiship missiles, a 76-mm gun, and several smaller-caliber weapons. Six additional units of the class initially were planned but subsequently canceled. The ships have been replaced by the newer, stealthy Kuang Hua VI–class missile patrol boats, the first squadron of which became operational in 2010.
The first of two new Israeli submarines was launched in February by its German shipbuilder, HDW. The submarines, reportedly to be named the Tanin and Rahav, are actually improved variants of the three Dolphin-class boats already in service with Israel’s navy. Expected to be operational by late 2013, the two new submarines are being built to a modified and lengthened design that includes an 11.3-meter plug housing an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system with solid-polymer, metal-hydride fuel cells. The AIP system eventually also may be backfitted into older units of the class, which are now more than a decade old. The two lengthened AIP-capable submarines were ordered in 2006 for the cost of roughly 550 million euros each, with Germany paying one third of that cost. These are the largest submarines built there since World War II. Construction on the boats began in 2007, and work is being shared between HDW shipyard in Kiel and Thyssen Nordseewerke in Emden. Talks already are under way between Israel and Germany to build an even larger and more capable unit of the Dolphin class in the near future.