On December 23 Taiwan’s Navy received the first locally designed stealth missile corvette from a taiwanese shipbuilder. Navy officials say the ship will soon be put into service.
According to IHS Janes, it is scheduled to be deployed in the first half of 2015.
Called Tuo Jiang or, by Taiwanese media, “carrier-killer”, the twin-hull boat built by Lung Teh Shipbuilding is a 500-tonne boat that measures 60.4 meters in length and 14 meters in width, and can hold a crew of 41.
It has a range of 2,000 nautical miles and will be equipped with several weapons, including the Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles.
The Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile is Taiwan’s latest supersonic missile.
It is six meters long (1.2 meters longer than Hsiung Feng II) and 6 centimeters bigger than the HF-II.
Its warhead is also heavier, weighting 225 kilos against 180 kilos.
Their range is about 80 nautical miles, with a minimum attack range of 16 nautical miles.
According to China Times, Taiwan’s navy plans to commission between eight and 12 of the stealth missile corvettes if there are enough funds in the future.
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