Lung Teh Shipbuilding Co has been awarded contracts to build 11 Tuo Jiang-class corvettes and four minelayers for the navy.
The shipbuilder is to deliver the Tuo Jiang-class guided missile corvettes by 2026, or a decade ahead of schedule, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) said on Sunday.
With a displacement of less than 700 tonnes, the corvettes are to have anti-aircraft and anti-ship capabilities, but no anti-submarine capabilities, he said, adding that the navy’s original plan of having three corvette subtypes — anti-aircraft, anti-ship and anti-submarine — was scrapped to save time.
Photo: Lo Tien-pin, Taipei Times
In July, the navy contracted with the Ministry of National Defense-affiliated Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology to take charge of the procurement platform, systems integration and combat systems development for the project, the institute’s Web site said.
According to the contract’s terms, the institute had to contract with a qualified Taiwanese shipbuilder no later than Nov. 11.
The institute said that the contractor was selected for its superior technical and financial performance through a transparent process to ensure successful indigenous production of high-performance warships.
Lung Teh was also awarded a contract to build fast minelayers for the navy, a defense official said on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The ministry later confirmed that report in an announcement.
The ministry said the shipbuilder is to deliver the minelayers by November 2021 at a cost of NT$738.31 million (US$24.01 million).
The remainder of the NT$917. 77 million budgeted for minelayers is reserved for the production of a naval mine that the institute is to develop, the navy said.
The minelayers would be a crucial asset to counter the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, the navy said, adding that the shipbuilding projects would benefit industry in Taiwan.
Deploying mines rapidly to close sea lanes and maritime zones that a hostile force might have chosen to move through helps disrupt enemy battle plans, the navy said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS