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Taiwan-made landing platform dock to enter service in June: Source

ROC Central News Agency

05/15/2023 06:16 PM

Taipei, May 15 (CNA) The Taiwan-made Yushan landing platform dock (LPD), a type of naval warship used to transport landing crafts such as amphibious vehicles is scheduled to enter into service in June after recently completing all required tests, a military source told CNA on Monday.

The 10,600-ton amphibious multi-mission vessel has completed required tests and training, including familiarizing its crew with the LPD's operations, conducting supply missions, and transporting landing-craft-mechanized (LCM), landing-craft-utility (LCU), and missiles vehicles, according to the unnamed source.

A ship commissioning ceremony will be held next month to place the vessel into active service, it added.

Christened and launched in April 2021, the Yushan, named after Taiwan's highest peak, is the first of four indigenous LPDs being built by local shipbuilder CSBC Corp., Taiwan for the Navy. It was delivered to the Navy in October 2022.

The Navy held a round of media demonstration of Yushan this January at its home port in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, to showcase its ability to transport Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) long-range missile batteries and other armed personnel and utility carriers.

Using the Yushan LPD, missiles such as the long-range HF-2 batteries can be deployed anywhere around Taiwan and its offshore islands, enhancing the military's combat effectiveness.

Once in service, the Yushan will replace the existing Hsu Hai dock landing ship, which first entered into service with the U.S. Navy as the USS Pensacola in 1971, before being transferred to Taiwan in 1999.

The Yushan, with a length of 153 meters and a beam of 23 meters, can be sailed at a maximum speed of 20 knots and a range of 7,000 miles. It is able to carry several AAV7 amphibious armed personnel carriers and 673 troops.

It can also be fitted with an MK-75 76mm gun, two MK-15 Phalanx close-in weapons systems, and two TC-2N missile systems that can be loaded with a maximum of 32 TC-2N missiles.

The ship also has two hangars able to accommodate two military helicopters at a time, according to Taiwan's military.

The Yushan LPD will be responsible for transporting supplies and personnel to the country's offshore islands and can handle humanitarian assistance missions in case of emergency, according to the military.

(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)

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