A revised “Zhenhai Project” (震海計畫) would see the construction of two 2,000-tonne frigates with anti-air and anti-submarine capabilities, instead of a planned 4,500-tonne next-generation missile frigate, a budget proposal sent to the legislature yesterday by the Ministry of National Defense showed.
The streamlined plan, now named the “Naval Next-Generation Frigate Buildup Project,” would provide two ships, trading size for ease of production, the ministry said, adding that the anti-air ship is expected to enter service by 2025 and the anti-submarine ship by 2026.
The vessels would have a maximum displacement of 2,500 tonnes each, would be able to operate in winds up to level 8 on the Beaufort scale, and would be equipped with mid-range anti-air missiles, higher-range supersonic anti-ship missiles, a 76mm gun, a Phalanx close-in weapon system and depth charges or torpedoes, the budget report said.
Photo courtesy of the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology
The ministry had initially budgeted NT$24.5 billion (US$768.8 million at the current exchange rate) from 2019 to 2026 for the project, but said it no longer addresses the navy’s needs following multiple delays.
Chinese Type 056 Jiangdao-class (江島) corvettes and a Type 053H3 Jiangwei-class (江衛) frigate have been entering Taiwanese waters since early August.
Dispatching naval vessels to monitor intruding Chinese ships has been taking a toll on the nation’s aging fleet, the ministry said, giving as an example a 50-year-old refitted Knox-class frigate, which serves as the navy’s primary anti-submarine ship.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
However, the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee expressed concern about the project’s execution and is to hear a briefing on it from the ministry today.
Work on a prototype anti-air frigate is scheduled to begin in May next year and the first phase of construction is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2024, the budget proposal said.
The vessel would be launched by the fourth quarter of 2024 and delivered to the navy by the third quarter of 2025, it said.
Work on a prototype of the anti-submarine frigate is expected to begin in April 2025 and the initial phase of construction is scheduled to be completed by the fourth quarter of that year, the proposal said.
The ship would be launched in the fourth quarter of 2025 and delivered to the navy by the second quarter of 2026, it said.
Separately, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) told lawmakers that frequent Chinese drone incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone are causing stress to the point that Taiwan might consider such incursions a “first strike.”
China’s military exercises have done away with unspoken accords between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and contributed to heightened risk of a war, Chiu said.
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