Navy to take delivery of 2 more Tuo Chiang-class corvettes

Taipei, March 2 (CNA) Taiwan's Navy is expected to take delivery of its fifth and sixth domestically-built Tuo Chiang-class corvettes by the end of this month, a military source told CNA on Saturday.

The An Chiang and Wan Chiang corvettes, built by Lungteh Shipbuilding Co., were launched in October and November last year, respectively, the source said.

The Tuo Chiang-class corvette is a Taiwanese-designed and manufactured class of fast and stealthy multi-purpose corvettes built for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy.

Other than the prototype, named Tuo Chiang (PGG-618), which was commissioned in 2015, the first batch comprised six corvettes, with the fourth homemade vessel delivered to the Navy on Friday, the source said.

Due to the smooth progress, the two remaining corvettes in the batch are expected to be delivered by the end of March, it added.

The Navy is set to build a total of 11 Tuo Chiang-class 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 Ministry of National Defense report presented to the Legislative Yuan, other than the prototype and the first delivered vessel, five of the Tuo Chiang-class corvettes will be fitted with eight subsonic HF-2 missiles and four supersonic HF-3 anti-ship missiles, while the other five warships will come with four HF-2s and eight HF-3s.