The Ta Chiang (PGG-619) is scheduled to be delivered to the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy in July, and a commissioning ceremony for the ship will be held in August. The Ta Chiang, was launched in Yilan. Unlike the prototype, the upgraded Tuo Chiang-class corvette, the Ta Chiang, is an anti-ship version fitted with subsonic Hsiung Feng-II missiles, supersonic Hisung Feng-III anti-ship missiles, a 76 mm cannon, and Tien-Chien II (TC-2N) air defense missiles. In 2021 Ta Chiang completed the testing and evaluation of the TC-2N missile.
CNA/FocusTaiwan reported that the ship’s name, Ta Chiang, is derived from the Tawa River in Taitung County. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it planned to have three Tuo Chiang-class corvettes delivered by 2025 to counter China’s increasing military threats, which include frequent aerial incursions into Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) and an increasing number of military drills near Taiwan. The Navy is hoping to obtain another five Tuo Chiang-class corvettes before 2023, after negotiating with Lung Teh Shipbuilding Co. in Yilan,
The Tuo Chiang-class corvette (Chinese: Tuo River) is a Taiwanese-designed class of fast (up to 45 knots, 83 km/h, 52 mph) 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 featured 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.
The ship is a catamaran design which is 60.4 metres (198 ft) long, 14 metres (46 ft) wide and carries a crew of 41. It is capable of a top speed of 40 knots and a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi). 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 76 mm (3 in) main gun. The ship can operate up to sea state 7 in waves up to 20–30 ft (6.1–9.1 m) high. The ship includes a distributed-architecture combat direction system known as “Taiwan Aegis”.
