The Tuo Chiang-class corvette is a Taiwanese-designed class of fast (up to 45kn) and stealthy multi-mission corvettes built for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy. It is designed to counter the numerous and increasingly sophisticated People's Liberation Army Navy ships by utilizing hit-and-run tactics, and thus features clean upper structure design with very few extrusions to reduce radar signature, pre-cooled engine exhaust to reduce infrared signature, and a reduced visual signature to reduce chance of detection.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
The program was announced by the Republic of China (Taiwan) Ministry of National Defense (MND) on 12 April 2010. It was developed by the Naval Shipbuilding Center in Kaohsiung,[8] The Tuo Chiang class was developed to address common weakness of traditional small warships such as patrol craft and corvettes not fit for extended periods of time in rough seas around Taiwan Island.
In 2011, the Taiwanese Legislative Yuan approved a NT$24.98 billion (US$853.4 million) budget to fund the construction of up to 12 ships.[9] On 18 April 2011 a top military officer and a lawmaker announced that the construction of a 500-ton prototype would begin in 2012. In the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in 2013, the Navy unveiled a model of the Hsun Hai project corvette. The prototype of the Hsun Hai program was named and christened on Friday, 14 March 2014 as ROCS Tuo Chiang (PGG-618) in honor of the gunboat in the September 2 Sea Battle during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis.[10]
The Ministry of National Defense prepared a budget of more than NT$16.395 billion in order to secure the follow-up mass production of three Tuojiang ships from 2017 to 2025. The mass production cost of the Tuojiang ship is 3.2 billion higher than that of the first prototype ship already in service, after deducting the hull. The Navy said that the prototype ship did not take into account the cost of missiles, and the mass-produced type was mainly used for combat readiness. The anti-aircraft missile is the standard configuration of the ship.
In early 2016, the ROC Navy began plans for procuring three air defense frigates. It has been speculated that these frigates would possibly be catamarans based on the Tuo River-class hull. Expected weapon systems include the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) equipped with a naval variant of the Sky Bow III and the Sky Sword II, as well as the Sea Oryx CIWS system.[11] It will field a ballistic missile defense version of the Sky Bow III missile defense system to shoot down incoming enemy ballistic missiles.[12]
In 2019 work commenced on the first of twelve 600+ ton coastal patrol vessels for the Coast Guard Administration, the Anping-class offshore patrol vessel, based on the Tuo Chiang-class corvette at the Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Company's Kaohsiung shipyard.[13]
In 2021 Ta Chiang completed the testing and evaluation of the TC-2N missile.[14]
The ship is a wave-piercing catamaran design which is 60.4m (198.2feet) long, 14m (46feet) wide and carries a crew of 41. It is capable of a top speed of 40 knots and a range of 2000nmi. It is armed with eight subsonic Hsiung Feng II and eight supersonic Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles launchers, a Phalanx Close-In Weapons System, and a 76abbr=onNaNabbr=on main gun. The ship can operate up to sea state 7 in waves up to 20- high. Taiwan Security Analysis Center (TAISAC) stated that the ship features stealth technologies to minimize radar detection, a combat system that includes a distributed-architecture combat direction system known as "Taiwan Aegis" developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology[15] and an indigenous search/track and fire-control radar and electro-optical director.[16] [17] [18] [19]
The ship increases its survivability in naval warfare by utilizing advanced stealth technology and low radar cross section (RCS), which makes it less detectable by radar and allows it to be obscured by background radar noise when operating closer to the coastline.[20]
In December 2020 the first of the improved Tuo Chiang-class corvettes, PGG-619 Ta Chiang, was launched in Yilan. 6 improved models are to be delivered by 2023. According to Janes the new models feature improvements in "weaponry, mission systems, and design."[21] Ta Chiang has been positively received by military analysts.[22]
Lungteh launched the third Tuo Chiang-class corvette in February 2023.[23]
The fifth vessel, An Chiang (安江), was launched in October 2023. The An Chiang is named after Yilan's Annong River (安農溪).[24]
In March 2024, the final two corvettes from the initial batch of six ships ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding, PPG-625 An Chiang and PPG 626 Wan Chiang, were commissioned at Su'ao Harbor in Yilan.[25] [26]
| Hull number | Name | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Status | Note |
| Flight 0 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PGG-618 | Tuo Chiang (Chinese: 沱江艦) | Lung Teh Shipyard, Su-Ao | 14 March 2014 [27] | 23 December 2014[28] | Active | Class prototype |
| Flight I | ||||||
| PGG-619 | Ta Chiang (Chinese: 塔江艦) | Lung Teh Shipyard, Su-Ao | 15 December 2020 | 27 July 2021 [29] | Active | Improved hull of first ship |
| PGG-620 | Fu Chiang (Chinese: 富江艦) | 21 September 2022 [30] | 28 June 2023 | Active | ||
| PGG-621 | Hsu Chiang (Chinese: 旭江艦) | 16 February 2023 | 6 February 2024 | Active | ||
| PGG-623 | Wu Chiang (Chinese: 武江艦) | 28 June 2023 | 1 March 2024 | Active | ||
| PGG-625 | An Chiang (Chinese: 安江艦) | 16 October 2023 | 26 March 2024[31] | Active | ||
| PGG-626 | Wan Chiang (Chinese: 萬江艦) | November 2023 | 26 March 2024 | Active | ||
| Flight II | ||||||
| PGG-627 | Lung Teh Shipyard, Su-Ao | |||||
| PGG-628 | ||||||
| PGG-629 | ||||||
| PGG-630 | ||||||
| PGG-632 | ||||||