Amid the tense situation in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan and the United States rely on a long-range early warning radar system deployed in Taiwan to respond to possible attacks from the PLA. The radar, which can identify missile movements 5,000 kilometers away and track details of missile trajectories 2,000 kilometers away, is thought to play a key role in the Taiwan Strait conflict and in Chinese attacks on Japanese and U.S. military bases in Guam.
In the event of a Chinese military attack on Taiwan, Taiwan and the United States could rely on a large early warning radar system to respond, according to an article on the South China Morning Post website today, December 7. This follows President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the Leshan Radar Base in Hsinchu in October of this year, which revealed the presence of Americans, and further media analysis and descriptions of Taiwan’s deployment of the U.S. PAVE PAWS long-range early warning radar.
According to the analysis quoted by NAM morning, the giant radar system is positioned at Leshan in Hsinchu County, 2,600 meters above sea level. As tensions rise in the Taiwan Strait, the deployment of Taiwan’s long-range radar system, which provides early warning of ballistic missile and fighter attacks on Taiwan, is becoming increasingly important for both the island and the United States.
Taiwan Sea Japan Guam
And it could play a key role not only in response to a Chinese military attack across the Taiwan Strait, but also when Chinese nuclear submarines launch missiles at U.S. bases in Japan and Guam.
The paper adds that the U.S. Paving Claw early warning radar deployed in Taiwan can detect missiles launched from a distance of 5,000 kilometers, covering China and the entire South China Sea. The early warning radar is also capable of tracking the detailed trajectory of a missile as it moves at a distance of 2,000 kilometers.
According to another online source, when Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen inspected the radar station in October this year, the presence of Americans at the site drew widespread attention. In fact, the $1.4 billion Raytheon-built paving claw radar warning system has been in full operation since 2013.
But there are concerns in Taiwan that the radar system will be a priority target for destruction if the PLA attacks the island. Sun Hai-tao, a retired Taiwanese general and former captain of the USS Lafayette, said that in the event of an attack, we would expect the PLA…to eliminate the radar system first, cutting off Taiwan’s operational data link system.
However, according to Wang Kung-yi, president of Taiwan’s International Institute for Strategic Studies, Taiwan has invested heavily in protecting the facility, including “deploying the Patriot III anti-missile system and the locally developed Sky Bow 2 and Sky Bow 3 anti-aircraft missiles, as well as a GPS jamming system to prevent the PLA from pinpointing the location.
The article notes that some critics in Taiwan believe that this is a radar facility built for the United States. The cost of the system has also been questioned. In addition to construction costs, Taiwan spends $24.6 million annually to maintain the facility. Since Taiwan has not yet acquired the core technology, critical maintenance work must be performed by U.S. technicians. Moreover, Taiwan has confirmed that it shares intelligence with Washington.
Intelligence Sharing
Given that the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait have become potential flashpoints for conflict, intelligence sharing between Taiwan and the United States is important, according to Professor Su Tzu-Yun, Executive Director of the Center for Integrated Strategy at Tamkang University in Taipei.
The Pave Paws PAVE PAWS long-range early warning radar is powerful enough to detect submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks,” he said. Real-time intelligence sharing with the U.S. means it can help track and respond to any underwater missile attack from the PLA. Over the past decade, the PLA has built up a fleet of submarines in the South China Sea and expanded its presence in the East and South China Seas in response to increasing U.S. military activity in the region, from which its submarines may fire missiles at U.S. facilities in Japan and Guam.
Ou Si-fu, a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Studies, a think tank funded by the Taipei City government, notes that PLA submarines based off the southern coast of Hainan Island can easily avoid detection in the South China Sea at depths of 2,000 to 4,000 meters.
He said in the institute’s latest Defense Security Briefing, “PLA nuclear PLA submarines equipped with ballistic missiles can hide underwater, thus avoiding a first strike and serving as a reliable deterrent to counterattack.”
He said the Chinese navy’s new generation of submarines will be equipped with JL-3 missiles with an estimated range of up to 14,000 kilometers, which puts the United States out of reach. That makes Leshan’s early warning radar system even more important to the security partnership between Taiwan and the United States, he said.
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