"The new fast combat support ship AOE 532 "Panshih"" Topic

"The Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy (ROC Navy) took delivery of a new locally designed fast combat support ship AOE 532 "Panshih" (nammed after a mountain in eastern Taiwan) on January 23rd. Panshih is now the largest vessel of the ROC Navy.

The vessel, fully designed in Taiwan, was laid down at the National Taiwan Shipbuilding Corporation (CSBC) shipyad in Kaoshiung in December 2012, launched in November 2013 and will be commissioned to the ROC Navy in 2015 following the trials at sea. The vessel is designed as an AOE, in accordance with the U.S. Navy hull classification system, which means it is a logistics ship that will supply oil, ammunition and stores to other ships in a battle group.

"Panshi" is 196 meters long with a beam of 25.2 meters and a draft of 8.6 meters. It has a full displacement of 20,859 tons and light displacement of 10,371 tons. . It has a range of 8,000 nautical miles, maximum speed of 22 knots and the capacity to carry a complement of 165 sailors…"

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What sort of deployments are the Taiwanese doing that requires this sort of long-range logistical sustainment?

What sort of deployments are the Taiwanese doing that requires this sort of long-range logistical sustainment?

Totally agree. Seems ridiculous given their main area of operations is the 180 km wide Taiwan Strait!

But then admirals and politicians alike like big overpriced toys whether they need them or not.

I was going to comment on that yesterday, but thought about it. I think the Taiwanese Navy is assuming, in the case of war, their ports will all be interdicted, either by subs, missile or air strikes, or just taken by amphib assault. This way their fleet can operate and be effective without those ports.

Agree with PHGamer.

When all your ports are within ground-launched cruise missile range of the Chinese, you need a plan B for refueling and re-arming.