ROC Navy
Taiwan's naval service, including its marine corps — increasingly oriented toward sea denial rather than sea control.
Broad area of activity
Waters around Taiwan and its administered island groups
Notable history
Built during the Cold War around donated and purchased surface combatants for a sea-control mission that the changing balance made unsustainable. The clearest strategic shift in the Taiwanese military over the past decade has happened here: away from a small number of large surface combatants and toward numerous smaller missile-armed vessels, land-based anti-ship missiles, mining capability and, since the 2010s, an indigenous submarine programme. The Hai Kun prototype has been conducting sea trials rather than entering service.
Strengths
A substantial and largely indigenous anti-ship missile inventory, a growing force of fast missile-armed vessels well suited to the geography, and the inherent advantages of operating in home waters within range of land-based support.
Limitations
Large surface combatants are increasingly difficult to survive with against a far larger opposing navy and missile force — the reason for the shift toward smaller platforms. The submarine programme is slow, expensive and unproven, and its schedule has repeatedly moved. Vigil publishes no basing, disposition or readiness information.
Documented equipment
Reported & historical equipment associations
Hai Kun-class submarine (Indigenous Defence Submarine): Indigenous submarine programme in sea trials; not an in-service capability claim.