The Ministry of National Defense on Monday awarded the bid for a government program to build amphibious warships, codenamed the Hung Yun Project (鴻運計畫), to CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台船) who is to produce two vessels for NT$4.6 billion (US$156 million).
According to the ministry’s timetable, the new ships are to officially enter service in 2021.
It would be the first project under the President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration’s indigenous shipbuilding program, ministry officials said.
The ship is expected to have great mobility and move at up to 21 knots (39kph) with a cruising range of 7,000 nautical miles (12,964km). It is to carry amphibious landing craft, model 7A1 assault amphibious vehicles, heavy trucks, Humvees and helicopters, the official said.
The ship could operate as a field hospital during peace time and could be used in providing humanitarian aid to foreign nations, the official said.
The ministry plans to acquire 153m-long ships with a displacement of 10,000 tonnes, equipped with 76mm guns, a Phalanx close-in weapon system and the shipborne variant of the Tien Chien II medium-range missile launcher, the ministry said.
The project has been hampered by a lack of interest from bidders, as the ministry originally budgeted only NT$3.7 billion for two vessels, and it was only after it raised the budget in January that the first proposals were received.
The project was conceived in 2008 to replace the navy’s ROCS Chung Cheng, which was refitted from the USS Comstock, a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship commissioned by the US in 1945, but the plan languished for nearly 10 years due to a lack of funding.
The ministry plans to have the ship conduct sea trials by 2020 and begin service with the Taiwanese navy by 2021.
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number
RSS