TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Government officials said the fourth Tuo Chiang-class corvette, the Wu Chiang, will be commissioned on Friday (March 1).
Due to the smooth progress of construction, the fifth and sixth ships will be delivered ahead of schedule by the end of this month, Liberty Times reported. The first batch of six corvettes includes: Ta Chiang(塔江), Fu Chiang(富江), Hsu Chiang(旭江), Wu Chiang(武江), An Chiang(安江) and Wan Chiang(萬江). The An Chiang was launched last October, and the Wan Chiang was launched in November.
The second batch of five corvettes will be built from 2024 to 2026. Construction of the first two vessels of the second batch is expected to commence by the end of this month.
Corvettes from the first batch will specialize in air defense and are armed with 16 Sea Sword anti-aircraft missiles, eight Hsiung Feng II subsonic anti-ship missiles, and four Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missiles.
The second batch of ships will take on an anti-ship role and are equipped with eight Hsiung Feng IIIs and four Hsiung Feng IIs. All the vessels have a maximum speed of 40 knots (74 km), a displacement of 685 tonnes, and a maximum operational range of 1,800 nautical miles (3,333 km).