The navy on Monday held a launch ceremony in Yilan County for its fifth domestically built Tuo Chiang-class corvette, officially christening it the An Chiang (安江), a military source with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
The navy would soon take delivery of the fifth homemade vessel after it is tested by Lungteh Shipbuilding Co, the source said, adding that the ship was named after the Annong River (安農溪) in Yilan.
A prototype of the Tuo Chiang-class corvette, the PGG-618, was commissioned in 2015.
Photo: CNA
The first completed corvette, the Ta Chiang (塔江), was launched in December 2020.
The second Tuo Chiang-class ship, the Fu Chiang (富江), was launched in September last year, while the third, the Hsu Chiang (旭江), was launched in February, and the fourth, the Wu Chiang (武江), was launched in June.
The navy is to build 11 corvettes by the end of 2026.
The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes are fitted with subsonic Hsiung Feng-II (HF-2) missiles, supersonic Hsiung Feng-III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles, a 76mm cannon and Sea Sword II carrier-based medium-range air defense missiles, giving them the ability to hit air and sea targets simultaneously.
Based on a recent Ministry of National Defense report presented to the Legislative Yuan, aside from the prototype, five of the corvettes are to be fitted with eight subsonic HF-2 missiles and four supersonic HF-3 anti-ship missiles, while the other five warships are to come with four HF-2s and eight HF-3s.
That configuration would help meet the operational needs of the navy, the report said.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not