The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday awarded Lung Teh Shipbuilding (龍德造船) a NT$9.7 billion Co (US$317.57 million) contract to build five Tuo Chiang-class corvettes with anti-ship capabilities, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday.
The corvettes would carry vertical launchers for four Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) missiles, as well as eight Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles, in contrast to ships configured for anti-air warfare, which carry eight HF-2 and four HF-3 missiles, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The anti-ship corvettes would be armed for improved standoff range against surface combatants and carry the latest HF-2 variant, which has an enhanced range, larger maneuverability and updated electronic warfare technology, he said.
Photo: CNA
Lung Teh was chosen in large part because the shipbuilder had more experience than its competitors, he said.
It previously built the prototype for the Tuo Chiang-class and three anti-air corvettes, and has been tasked with building three more ships of that configuration, he said.
An anti-ship Tu Chiang-class corvette costs NT$7.56 billion when the platform, munitions, combat systems and logistics costs are included, while the program’s overall costs are projected at NT$37.8 billion, government reports showed.
A fleet of 12 Tou-Chiang class corvettes is planned, including the prototype, six anti-aircraft corvettes and five anti-ship corvettes, with the delivery of the last ship scheduled before the end of 2026.
Separately, a copy of the defense ministry’s latest budget proposal to the legislature confirmed that the navy’s submarine rescue ship program would receive NT$10.1 billion under a five-year force restructuring plan.
The move came a year after Democratic Progressive Party legislators Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) joined independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) in calling for the nation’s indigenous defense submarine program to have dedicated rescue capabilites.
A separate defense official familiar with the matter yesterday said that the budget would enable the navy to develop a defense submarine with deep-sea rescue capabilities, including an adjunct ship, crew and support facilities.
The defense submarine would come in addition to the first of a new class of 3,250-tonne rescue-and-salvage ships, which would enter service in September, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The new ship’s diving bell would be able to operate at depths of up to 100m and it would be equipped with a remotely operated vehicle that can dive up to 500m, they added.
Even though the ship would be operated by the navy, it would not be used for defense tasks.
The submarine’s rescue ship would have the same capabilities as vessels operated by the US Navy, but it is not yet clear whether it would be interoperable with the navies of the US and Japan, the official said, adding that the matter would have to be discussed with the US.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as the chipmaker prepares for volume production of Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips. It was Huang’s third trip to Taiwan this year, indicating that Nvidia’s supply chain is deeply connected to Taiwan. Its partners also include packager Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達). “My main purpose is to visit TSMC,” Huang said yesterday. “As you know, we have next-generation architecture called Rubin. Rubin is very advanced. We have now taped out six brand new
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant