The first unit in a new class of stealth missile corvettes christened on 14 March 2014 has been handed over to the Taiwanese Navy during a ceremony held on 23 December 2014. The corvette TUO JIANG (PGG 618), which was built by Lung Teh Shipbuilding Company, is the first of possibly 12 units to be constructed locally under the Hsun Hei Project. In 2011, the Republic of China legislature approved an NT$24.98Bn (US$853.4M) budget to fund the construction of 12 units. The 600t (full displacement) twin-hull TUO JIANG class is mirroring the HOUBEI class (Type 022) wave-piercing catamaran hulls of which some 83 units are presently in service with the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Their main mission is to collaborate with the KUANG HUA VI missile boats of which the Taiwanese Navy has received 31 units until March 2014, including the prototype FACG-60. Because of their shallow draft, the new combatants may be deployed to small fishing harbours around Taiwan, minimising their reliance on major military bases, thereby maintaining naval striking power should the facilities be sabotaged. Their maximum speed of 38ktsknots and low radar signature allow them to get close to hostile targets. Their armament, which consists of eight HSIUNG FENG III (HF-3) ramjet-powered anti-ship cruise missiles, a single OTO Melara 76/62 naval gun, one Raytheon PHALANX CIWS, and two .50-calibre (12.7mm) BROWNING M2HB machine guns, provides evidence that the new class of missile corvettes could be deployed as 'carrier killers'. The supersonic HF-3 anti-ship cruise missile, manufactured by the Defence Ministry's Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), is seen as the most appropriate means to defeat PLAN aircraft carriers.
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