The Strategic Support Force Dies

And Taiwan’s New Littoral Combatant Command is Born

Image: Naval News

While much of the attention of western security analysts (rightly) was focussed on the dire state of the Ukrainian ground forces firepower, and the final moves to secure a bill for Ukraine aid in the US Congress, in the past couple of weeks, some interesting developments were taking place on the other side of the world.

On one side the of Taiwan Strait, a new Littoral Combatant Command was established by the Taiwanese military. On the other side of the strait, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) dis-established the Strategic Support Force and at the same time formed three new strategic commands: the Aerospace Force, the Cyberspace Force, and the Information Support Force.

A New Taiwanese Combatant Command

This week, the Taiwanese state news agency carried a story about the formation of a new Littoral Combatant Command for the Taiwanese military. Due to be established in 2026, the new command would be subordinate to Taiwan’s Naval Command Headquarters. This is a new command, not forecast in even the most recent Taiwanese defence report issued in 2023.

Clearly, the new chief of the navy appointed in May 2023, Admiral Tang Hua is keen to reform the structure and warfighting capacity of the navy during his command tenure.

In some respects, the new command will streamline the existing Naval Fleets Command. Conceptually it will provide a command that is a defensive shield while strike elements of the navy such as its frigates, aviation and submarines reach out further to sea to attrit the Chinese naval forces.