The Republic of China Navy (RoCN) has received improved Tuo Chiang-class corvette Ta Chiang (PGG-619). the corvette was formally handed over in a ceremony held on 27 July at the facilities of Lungteh Shipbuilding in Suao, in north-eastern Taiwan’s Yilan County, that was presided over by Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng. Ta Chiang completed the testing and evaluation and has been positively received by military analysts. The Ta Chiang is designed to carry up to eight Hsiung Feng II subsonic anti-ship missiles and eight Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missiles.
The TC-2N will be outfitted on the Ta Chiang. The Tien Chien II (TC-2) is a medium-range, radar guided air-to-air missile developed by the National Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST). In the naval role the TC-2N fills an air defense gap between the Phalanx CIWS and SM-2 systems and with a range of 30 km.The missile has all-weather capability, is equipped with a thrust-vectoring booster to increase its range as well as maneuverability during launch phase, and can engage anti-ship missiles and aircraft. It also has folding control surfaces to be quad-packed into either above-deck oblique launchers or in-deck vertical launch systems.
The Tuo Chiang-class corvette (Tuo River) is a Taiwanese-designed class of fast (up to 45 knots, 83 km/h, 52 mph) and stealthy 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 increases its survivability in naval warfare by utilizing advanced stealth technology and low radar cross section (RCS).
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.
