The navy on Wednesday unveiled a high-speed warship called the Tuo Jiang-class Corvette that officials said will reinforce the nation’s maritime defense capabilities and serve as a strong deterrent against enemy intrusion into Taiwanese waters.
In trial tests off the east coast, the 500-tonne, twin-hull vessel reportedly reached speeds of 44 knots (81kph), exceeding its target velocity of 38 knots.
In a video presentation at a press event at the Navy Command Headquarters in Taipei, the “stealth missile corvette” showed its highly mobile navigation capability, performing “S-curve” maneuvers and making a 30° turn at high speed.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The latest addition to Taiwan’s fleet will be equipped with indigenous Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles, said navy Captain Wayne W.F. Liu, deputy director of the Department of Naval Intelligence.
“This vessel can reach its top speed within 10 seconds and also has great maneuverability due to its advanced water-jet propulsion system,” Liu said. “We are proud of the project’s success, because it was designed and developed in Taiwan.”
He said the corvette is powered by two MTU V16 diesel engines and the water-jet propulsion system is reversible, enabling the corvette to make a crash-stop at high speed within a few boat lengths, and then reverse, as well as make quick turns, abilities that were shown in the video presentation.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
For close-range defense, its armaments reportedly include Otobreda 76mm main guns, an MK 15 Phalanx close-in weapons system, four 12.7mm machine guns and MK32 torpedoes.
The Tuo Jiang-class corvette was built by Yilan County-based Lung Teh Shipbuilding Co, with the project beginning in November 2012 on a budget of NT$24.98 billion (US$820 million at the time).
Touted as “aircraft-carrier killer” by local media, the ship has a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,704km) and dimensions of 60.4mx14m.
The vessel is patterned after ships produced by the US Independence-class LCS (littoral combat ship) program, which develops high-speed, small-crew corvettes to operate mostly in coastal zones.
The Republic of China Navy’s plan is to commission eight corvettes to be based at Suao Port (蘇澳) in Yilan County.
Naval intelligence officers said with their high mobility, outstanding firepower and stealth features, the new corvette will greatly enhance national defense capabilities.
Once in service, the corvettes are to replace the Ching Jiang-class patrol ships, and will be mainly deployed for hunting enemy submarines and other anti-ship combat missions, the officers said.
An anti-terrorism drill was also staged at the press event, showcasing the training skills, commando fighting techniques, weapons and teamwork of various naval units.
Teams from the Navy Special Service Company and Marine Corps demonstrated an amphibious landing maneuver, as well as scaling up and rappelling down buildings, and forcing entry through windows in a hostage rescue simulation.
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