ROCN Tuo Chiang class corvette in active service

[xhw1986]

Taiwan's largest-ever missile ship went into service Tuesday after a ceremony presided over by President Ma Ying-jeou as the island strives to modernise its military in response to a perceived threat from China.

Ma praised the corvette's "stealth and speed" at the ceremony involving hundreds of naval officers and said it "reflects the determination by the military to defend national security".

Armed with 16 missiles, the ship will strengthen Taiwan's defence capabilities. China still considers the island part of its territory waiting to be reunited -- by force if necessary.

The 500-tonne corvette, named 'Tuo Chiang'('Tuo River'), will be deployed following the ceremony at the southern Tsoying naval base.

It is the prototype for up to 11 others to be built for the navy.

The sleek twin-hulled ship uses stealth technology to reduce the reflection of radar waves, making it harder to detect.

Taiwan in December announced a new project to produce advanced homegrown surface-to-air missiles from 2015 as part of efforts to build an air defence shield.

It has also announced a move to build its own submarines, which Ma said Tuesday were "crucial" to its defence.

The Taiwanese navy currently operates a fleet of four submarines, but only two of them can be deployed in the event of war. The other two were built by the United States in the 1940s and are too old for combat.

Relations between Taiwan and China have improved since 2008 when Ma, of the China-friendly Kuomintang party, came to power.

However the perceived threat remains -- according to Taiwan's defence ministry China has more than 1,500 ballistic and cruise missiles trained on the island.

 

[xhw1986]

Enjoy!

 

[AMCA]

Super cool design.. Wow.. Beast indeed

 

[milvipes]

A 1000+ t corvette without SAM. Taiwan's defense industry has been gutted by three successive administrations, that it can't even afford to carry to completion a simple naval SAM conversion of Sky Sword 2 AAM.

 

[Beast]

A 1000+ t corvette without SAM. Taiwan's defense industry has been gutted by three successive administrations, that it can't even afford to carry to completion a simple naval SAM conversion of Sky Sword 2 AAM.

Many of Taiwan so called indigenous weapon are just an assemble of US sub system.

 

[Akasa]

Many of Taiwan so called indigenous weapon are just an assemble of US sub system.

Whatever that works still works fine.

 

[IsaacNewton]

Cost?

 

[waja2000]

Cost?

about usd 72 million for hull, sensor, radar, cms，comms，navigation, if missile cost may go to usd 200million.

 

[waja2000]

Super cool design.. Wow.. Beast indeed

some news said they discover mistake design calculation on over weight missile cause ship unbalance, and rear of ship bear over loaded.
See below FAC draft marks. front and rear.

 

[milvipes]

16x AShM, yet not a single SAM. Somebody needs to be executed.

Many of Taiwan so called indigenous weapon are just an assemble of US sub system.

For major platforms like fighters, MBT, & warships perhaps. But for "lesser" weapon systems like tactical missiles & artillery, there's no excuse for not being self-sufficient.

 

[damiendehorn]

Ironic this is very similar to the Type 22 FAC, just somewhat larger.

 

[waja2000]

16x AShM, yet not a single SAM. Somebody needs to be executed.
For major platforms like fighters, MBT, & warships perhaps. But for "lesser" weapon systems like tactical missiles & artillery, there's no excuse for not being self-sufficient.

They know this, so next model will only have 12 AShM, than space from 4 missile will use to install 8 cell MK41 vls. （follow news from tw)

 

[BigDaddyWatch]

To be fair to the Taiwanese they have a very impressive missile program. The Taiwanese build pretty much anything when it comes to missile's. Air to air, air to ground, ground to air, ground to ground and anti ship missile's. Anything except for ballistic missile's.

But outside of the missile field things become more problematic.