Taiwan To Commission Indigenous Stealth Missile Corvette Next Month

Taiwan plans to commission its indigenously designed stealth missile corvette and supply vessel to naval service late next month, Taipei Times reported Feb 14, 2014.

“A ceremony to formally put the corvette Tuo Jiang and supply vessel Panshih into service is scheduled to take place in late March at the navy’s Zuoying base in Kaohsiung,” the largest naval base in Taiwan, an unnamed naval source was quoted as saying by the daily.

The 502-tonne Tuo Jiang corvette was delivered by to the navy by local firm Lung Teh Shipbuilding at a ceremony on Dec 23, 2014 at the commercial harbor in Suao eastern Taiwan.

The corvette costs an approximate NT$2.1 billion (US$67 million).The twin-hulled Hsun-hai-class corvette is equipped with locally developed Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles, a 76mm gun and Mark 46 torpedoes, the source said.

It has a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,704km), is 60.4m long and 14m wide, and can carry up to 41 people.

One month after the delivery of the Tuo Jiang, the navy received the supply vessel, the Panshih, from local shipbuilder CSBC at a ceremony on Jan. 23 in Kaohsiung.

The Panshih would be used to transport fuel, ammunition and other supplies to support the navy fleet in wartime. It will be used to carry supplies, conduct maritime rescue missions and provide humanitarian assistance when not in service, the source said.

It also has advanced medical equipment to provide better medical services than the Wuyi, the navy’s other supply vessel, he added.

There is a small hospital on the Panshih that includes an operating center, a dental room, three regular wards and an isolation ward. It cost NT$4.09 billion to build, the source said.

The new vessel measures 196m in length and 25.2m in width. It can take a crew of up to 165 people and has a range of 8,000 nautical miles.

It can reach a maximum speed of 22 knots (40.7kph) and has a load displacement of about 18,140 tons and a light displacement of about 9,000 tons.