The first two of four Kidd-class destroyers are due to be delivered and commissioned into service in December, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
"The first two Kidd-class destroyers have finished renovations and are combat-ready. The two destroyers are undergoing a live-fire drill under the inspection of our navy and the US navy. The two warships will return to Taiwan after they complete testing of SM-2 missiles in October," said Rear Admiral Lee Hao (
Lee said that more than 1,000 sailors have spent eleven months training in Deytens, South Carolina to man the warships.
PHOTO COURTESY ROC NAVY
A Chinese-language newspaper yesterday reported that the navy had initially proposed the testing of two SM-2 missiles on each of the four vessels to verify their multi-target-engagement capability.
However, to save money, the navy has decided that each warship will test only one SM-2 missile.
The paper said that one SM-2 costs US$1.2 million, and that the navy is unable to afford test-firing eight missiles.
The report also questioned whether the Kidd-class destroyers would be properly tested on their multi-target-engagement capabilities if only one missile was to be launched from each vessel.
In response to the report, Lee said that the significance of the Kidd-class destroyers lay in their "direct role" in a conflict, not their anti-missile capability.
"If the enemy launched a large-scale missile attack on our military, the navy's Lafayette-class frigates, Perry-class frigates and Knox-class frigates would be responsible for destroying missiles, while the Kidd-class destroyers would hold a distance from that conflict to attack the enemy's jet fighters after they launch their missiles and ascend," he said.
The ministry said the two Kidd-class destroyers performed well at this year's computer-simulation war games, with the two vessels attracting most enemy fire, yet destroying 19 short-range ballistic missiles and 16 jet fighters.
The ministry said that Suao's (
The US sold the four vessels to Taiwan in 2001. The other ships should be delivered between next year and 2007.
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