Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Jeff Head said:

This vessel is much more a large Type 022 attack craft. It's clearly designed principally for anti-surface warfare and would be used in groups of 2-4 relatively close (100-200 km) to the Island against large concentrations of enemy ships.

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It is interesting that they designed a ship 500 tons in displacement and with such great endurance. If they only wanted an FAC missiler against china they could have built something more in the he size of 022 which would have suited their needs well, and they might have been able to build more of them as well.

That makes me think they either desperately wanted to get the HF-3 missiles on an FAC and anything smaller than 500 tons couldn't carry the bulky munition, and/or they want a large FAC that can be used against beyond the Taiwan strait, and very possibly against other navies, not just PLAN.

Is that a 76mm Oto in a "stealth " turret or a 57mm?

Equation said:

It didn't mention how many sailors it could carry, does anyone know? LOL...love the article mentioning it as a "carrier killer" type of weapon.

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41 per chinatimes article

I understand these ships' primary purpose is probably to attack any PLAN formations farther offshore of Taiwan outside of the strait but they can also reach the Spratlys and the southern main islands of Japan which I do not think is a coincidence.

With these ships Taiwan/ROC now has more leverage even if tensions escalate all the way up to a hot war over either the Spratlys or the Diaoyus/Senkakus. Twelve ships of this class is ample to deal with the PLAN, just enough for leverage for the other scenarios but not so many as to be threatening.

When they showed a model of this ship last year in Augast they released some specs and according to that the their will be 34 men aboard.

PanAsian said:

I understand these ships' primary purpose is probably to attack any PLAN formations farther offshore of Taiwan outside of the strait but they can also reach the Spratlys and the southern main islands of Japan which I do not think is a coincidence.

With these ships Taiwan/ROC now has more leverage even if tensions escalate all the way up to a hot war over either the Spratlys or the Diaoyus/Senkakus. Twelve ships of this class is ample to deal with the PLAN, just enough for leverage for the other scenarios but not so many as to be threatening.

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Who says it's only use against the PLAN carrier? It can be use against Japan's Hyūga-class helicopter destroyer (carrier) as well and Filipinos Coast Guard acting unprofessionally sometimes.

A senior US government official pledged on Friday that the refitting and upgrading of Taiwan’s F-16 jets would proceed as planned, with no extra costs to the nation.

There was an article in ? AWST where NG or LM said the AESA radar selection locked in a price which could not change for Taiwan. Even if they have to foot some more of the non recurring development costs that may be ok if they get royalties from other sales.

Bltizo said:

It is interesting that they designed a ship 500 tons in displacement and with such great endurance.

...they either desperately wanted to get the HF-3 missiles on an FAC and anything smaller than 500 tons couldn't carry the bulky munition, and/or they want a large FAC that can be used against beyond the Taiwan strait, and very possibly against other navies, not just PLAN.

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Well, I believe the primary purpose (against whomever) is the protection of the main Island.

However, they also have enough endurance to be used in the SCS island disputes if necessary...but, depending on who they were confronting, they would need other escorts providing AAW support in going that far.

A good looking boat. looks quite capable and nimble. I would not call it a scaled up Houbei class, Though The PLA and ROCN have different mission sets in mind and at well over double the weight Hsun Hai-class is a totally different ship.

The problem is, 12 FACs won't be enough to go out and seriously menace PLAN and associated shipping, once you account for attrition from mainland manned and unmanned aviation.