Taiwan to boost corvette firepower amid ‘ever-growing threats’ from PLA
- Five new ‘carrier killers’ – to be delivered by 2026 – will be equipped with more supersonic missiles
- Ministry says move aims to strengthen the navy’s defences should a cross-strait conflict break out
The five new corvettes, dubbed “carrier killers”, are to be built for the Taiwanese navy from 2023 – the second batch of the vessels, to be delivered by 2026.
They will be equipped with more Hsiung Feng (or Brave Wind) III supersonic missiles than the first batch of corvettes – weapons that will be able to hit their targets faster and from further way, according to the island’s military.
The navy will double the number of those missiles from four to eight for the second lot of corvettes, the defence ministry said in a report submitted to the legislature over the weekend for review. Meanwhile, they will have four of the older missiles, known as Hsiung Feng II, instead of eight.
“In the face of ever-growing threats from large Chinese communist warships and the far-striking ability of their ship-launched missiles, the military has decided to adjust the combat power of the corvettes,” according to the report.
It said the move was aimed at helping to boost the navy’s defences should a cross-strait conflict break out.
The Hsiung Feng III missiles reportedly have a top speed of Mach 2.5 (more than 3,000km/h) and an operating range of 160km. That compares to the earlier missile’s top speed of Mach 0.85 (over 1,000km/h) and range of 140km.
