Taiwan will increase the firepower of Tuo Chiang-type corvettes, which are called "aircraft carrier killers." A new batch of ships that will be built for the Naval Forces (Navy) of the Republic of China will receive more anti-ship missiles, writes the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Construction of the second batch of corvettes will begin in 2023, and by 2026 the ships are planned to be transferred to the Taiwan Navy. The new corvettes will increase the number of supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles (RCC) Hsiung Feng III from four to eight. They will also carry four Hsiung Feng II missiles.
The report of the Ministry of Defense of Taiwan says that the firepower of the ships will be increased due to "constantly growing threats" from the ships of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA) and the range of Chinese ship-based missiles.
Hsiung Feng III rockets reach speeds of more than 3,000 kilometers per hour. The range of the supersonic RCC is 160 kilometers. It is noted that the Hsiung Feng II RCC can hit targets at a distance of up to 140 kilometers. Also, corvettes of this type carry anti-aircraft missiles, the Phalanx CIWS anti-aircraft artillery system, a 76 mm caliber gun and machine guns.
In November, China for the first time showed the latest hypersonic aviation missile YJ-21. Andrei Chan, editor—in-chief of the Canadian military magazine Kanwa Asian Defense, told SCMP that the purpose of the demonstration was to warn the United States not to interfere with Beijing's plans to return Taiwan.
