Coast guard takes delivery of new missile corvette, patrol boat

ROC Central News Agency

12/11/2020 05:06 PM

Kaohsiung, Dec. 11 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday touted Taiwan's indigenous ship program as the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) took delivery of a new missile corvette and a patrol vessel during a ceremony in Kaohsiung.

Speaking at the ceremony, Tsai reiterated that the government will continue to enhance Taiwan's indigenous shipbuilding capabilities as part of its efforts to further strengthen the country's national defenses.

The addition of the new vessels showcases Taiwan's determination to defend its territorial waters, she said, highlighting the increasing occurrence of Chinese dredgers that have trespassed into Taiwanese waters to extract sand from areas near the Matsu Islands this year.

"Such acts will never be tolerated," Tsai said, indicating that the CGA will not be lenient when it comes to protecting Taiwan's territorial waters.

Built by the Kaohsiung-based Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Group, the new vessels are a 600-ton corvette named Anping and a 35-ton fast patrol boat.

According to the CGA, the CG-601 Anping is a modified version of the Navy's Tuo Jiang-class corvette, which is capable of traveling at over 44 knots.

Apart from patrolling the coast, the corvette is able to conduct rescue missions and is responsible for protecting Taiwan's waters, including intercepting smugglers and chasing away trespassing Chinese boats, the CGA said.

Besides being equipped with a water cannon that has a maximum range of 120 meters, the Anping is also armed with high explosive rockets and a 20mm cannon.

Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽), head of the CGA Fleet Branch, told reporters that the vessel is also capable of carrying the Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missile system and the Hsiung Feng III medium range supersonic missile, both of which have been developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

The CGA is currently working with the Navy to come up with a plan for training on the two missile systems, Hsieh said.

The armaments can be used in times of conflict, the CGA said, noting however that they will not be deployed during regular maritime patrols.

Meanwhile Friday, Tsai also christened another corvette, naming it the "Cheng Kung" just before it began sea trials.

(By Matt Yu and Ko Lin)

Enditem/J