Hsun Hai (Swift Sea) Tuo Jiang - Design
The high-speed corvette, described as a 'carrier-killer' by Taiwanese media, has a maximum speed of 38 kt and a range of 2,000 nautical miles. The 60 meter by 14 meter vessel has a low radar cross section (RCS) design and can carry a crew of 41. Few details on Tuo Jiang 's weapon systems were released, but armament was reported to include the Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) ramjet-powered supersonic anti-ship missile. The HF-3, manufactured by the defense ministry's Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), is touted as Taiwan's most potent weapon against the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN's) aircraft carrier. Previously revealed models of the corvette showed a primary gun on its foredeck and a close-in weapon system (CIWS) turret towards its aft section.
As for the basic performance of the Tuojiang-class follow-up ships, the Navy pointed out that the first batch of Tuojiang ship mass-produced ships is 65 meters long, 14.8 meters wide, and 6.2 meters high. In terms of basic performance, the full-load ship speed is 30 knots and the full-load displacement is approximately It is 685 tons, with a full-load draft of approximately 2.1 meters, and an endurance of more than 1,800 nautical miles. The weapon system has 76mm fast guns, phalanx fast guns and T-74 platoon machine guns. The reconnaissance system has 3D air search radar, plane search radar and fire control radar. The electronic warfare system includes a threat early warning system, a radar early warning system and a jamming missile launch system. The missile system includes the Haijian II air defense missile, the Xiong Er anti-ship missile, and the Xiong San anti-ship missile. The anti-ship firepower is quite strong, and it is an important combat ship for the Navy to develop asymmetric combat power.
The primary advantage of boats built in catamaran style is the stability offered by the spaced hulls without the excess drag which would be caused by one wide hull. In their usual embodiment, catamarans have two identical hulls, and each hull is generally symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane passing through the bow and parallel to the mean plane of the whole boat. Also usually, and of course outside the areas immediately adjacent to the bow or the rear of the hull, the inner and outer walls of each hull are substantially vertical and parallel. The result for each hull is a symmetrical distribution of the bow wave raised at the front. The zone of maximum amplitude of the resulting transverse wave train, both outside and between the two hulls, is generally located beyond the rear of the boat where the energy contained in these waves disperses. By gaining speed, a catamaran generally tends to sink from the rear, thus increasing the wetted surface of the hulls and resistance to advancement.
The term "swath" is an acronym for Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull. Conceptually, these types of vessels date back to the last century and are characterized generally as comprising two submerged parallel propulsion torpedo-like pontoons, each of which is provided with one or more vertical struts which project upwardly a substantial distance above the water line and which at their upper ends support the entire superstructure of the vessel. In general, the combined buoyancy of the two (or more) propulsion pontoons is sufficient to support the superstructure of the vessel a predetermined distance (e.g., 5-8 feet) above water level while the boat is at rest as well as when it is under way in relatively calm waters. It is well known to provide swath vessels with underwater horizontal stabilizers or canards to assist in maintaining stability of the boat in terms of pitch, roll or yaw while moving at medium to higher speeds either calm water or rough waters.
The above water superstructure of a swath may be designed and outfitted to function in all substantial respects as a conventional mono-hull boat or ship, either primarily as a cargo or passenger carrying vessel. During more recent years, a number of passenger carrying swath vessels ranging in length from around 60 feet to over 200 feet have been built and tested or operated as ocean or seagoing vessels with reasonable success.
All of the reasonably well designed swaths that have been built and operated within the past decade provide much enhanced riding stability over any known conventional hull or catamaran construction. A properly designed swath inherently provides a much more "level" ride as far as minimizing the amount of pitch and roll inherent in more conventional designs. However, one severe shortcoming that has been encountered by certain swath vessels is that when the vessel at relatively high speed encounters even moderately rough head seas (involving as little as 10 foot seas) the bow of the swath super-structure tends to plough into the oncoming waves and become submerged in green water, creating the danger of swamping and even sinking of the vessel.
Water jet propulsion devices are often used to power water vehicles such as boats. They are also sometimes known as pump-jets or hydro-jets. Water jet propulsion devices typically comprise a pump having an inlet that is submerged in use and an outlet that is generally located above the water level. In use, the pump ejects a jet of water rearwards out of the outlet which provides a propulsive force to the boat to drive it forwards.
The stern of the Tuojiang ship has a flat deck space. The size is quite large but not enough to allow the helicopter to land. The red paint is used in the factory test stage. After service, the rectangular painting is changed, which can be used as a helicopter vertical replenishment platform, carrying cargo and other multi-purpose purposes.
This class of ship does not have a standing transportation boat. There are two large openable hatches at the stern of the ship. The right hatch is equipped with a RHIB rigid rubber boat, which can be used for temporary sea inspections and short-range transportation boats. The cabin door at the left end is a composite type, which is the same as the Jiyang-class cabin door concept. It is the release position of the towed array sonar . The photos of the briefing board at the military ceremony on March 31 show the variable depth sonar. The length of the cable is 185 meters, and the length of the listening array is 174 meters. The briefing shows that the array has a long-range reconnaissance function and can provide early warning of incoming torpedoes. The sonar model has not been announced; it is speculated that the deepening sonar used by Tuojiang is Exelis' Model 980 low-frequency active/passive towed array sonar.
The radar system will be used in batch production of 11 high-performance ship follow-up ships (the sea-carrying project) is believed to be installed on the rear mast of the Tuojiang-class follow-up ship (the sea-carrying ship); although this radar It is a traditional mechanical rotating type. Compared with a fixed phase radar, a rotating three-dimensional radar has a shorter detection range, a slower target update speed, and a poor ability to support saturation attacks. It can only support short and medium-range air defense missiles, but the advantage is weight It is lighter than the fixed phase radar, has a small impact on the stability of the ship, and is low in price. It is produced by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and can be obtained quickly. The radar can be combined with the ship's air defense missile system, such as the Haijian II air defense missile carried by the Tuojiang class follow-up ship, which can simultaneously track multiple targets for engagement and improve the survival rate of the battlefield.
The rotating three-dimensional phased radar system can be used to perform short-range early warning and air defense engagement tasks against incoming air threats. It can simultaneously track multiple targets and control several firepower units for engagement, providing real-time radar information. Target identification, threat assessment, command and control, firepower distribution and automatic firing direction guidance, with the advantages of rapid deployment and easy transportation. The radar system features include electronic counter-resistance and electronic protection capabilities, detection of fixed-wing aircraft, and rotors Aircraft, cruise missiles and unmanned vehicles, support multi-purpose military combat missions, adopt COTS commercial materials and equipment, and software and hardware functions that can be customized according to mission requirements. It can be used to support air defense combat missions to protect military fortresses, seaports or airports.
The towed Sonar has been removed. While the catamaran does offer higher carrying capability, vibration issues made it impossible for the ship to have ASW capabilities.
Taiwan media call it an "aircraft carrier killer," but Chinese mainland military experts said that the corvette's threat to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is limited and will only become a target of PLA aircraft. It is a small ship with strong firepower, but its planned tactic against the PLA will not work, Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on 16 December 2020.
Taiwan's military could attempt to use the ship to launch missiles against PLA ships from outside of the PLA's air defense area, but the PLA may not use warships against the island's corvettes in the first place, but instead use aircraft to destroy them, so the Tuo Chiang-class corvette will not be able to become an "aircraft carrier killer," Song said. With a large number of vessel-borne fighter jets, the PLA aircraft carriers have effective long-range strike capabilities, and the Tuo Chiang-class corvettes will have zero possibility of survival, Song said.
The corvette is equipped with too many weapons, and since its displacement is so small, it cannot carry radar advanced enough to effectively spot targets and guide the missiles, Mainland analysts said, noting that in comparison, the PLA's Type 022 missile boat has an entire intelligence system as support.
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