TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The navy has witnessed the launch of its fifth Tuo Chiang-class guided missile corvette, also known as an “aircraft carrier killer,” reports said Wednesday (Oct. 18).
The An Chiang, named after the Annong Creek in Yilan County, was the third of the corvettes to be completed during 2023, per CNA. The ships are built at a yard operated by Lungteh Shipbuilding in Kaohsiung City and are handed over to the navy after a period of testing.
The Ministry of National Defense ordered 11 of the Tuo Chiang-class ships to be launched until 2026 amid the growing threat from China. The ships until the sixth version will each be equipped with 16 Sea Sword II air-defense missiles, four Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missiles, and eight Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missiles, earning the ships the moniker of “carrier killer.”
The seventh ship will feature eight Hsiung Feng III missiles and four Hsiung Feng II missiles. The first ship in the series, the Ta Chiang, was launched in Dec. 2020 based on a prototype named the Tuo Chiang and commissioned in 2015.