Taiwan Navy Commissions Stealth Missile Boat
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The Taiwanese Navy on Oct. 1 put into service the first locally designed “stealth” missile boat to boost the island’s defense capabilities against rival China.
The 186-metric-ton missile boat, designed by the Navy, joined the fleet during a ceremony presided over by naval commander-in-chief Adm. Miao Yung-ching.
The ship made its debut in the nationÂ’s biggest war games, held Sept. 4. A Hsiungfeng II ship-to-ship missile, designed with a range of 150 kilometers, was launched from the vessel and hit the target.
The Navy plans to build 30 such missile boats under the Kuanghwa Six Project.
“After an evaluation, the Navy decided to build a fleet of fast missile boats at reasonable prices, and the construction can be completed within a short period of time. The boats are designed to serve as a deterrent,” the Navy said in a statement.
The Navy said the stealthy boat, designed to reduce the reflection of radar waves, measures 34.2 meters and is capable of cruising at a maximum speed of 33 knots.
Analysts said the boat may be able to “passively” receive intelligence collected by other Taiwanese warships and enable the fleet to launch missile blitzes against targeted enemy warships without exposing their location.
Each missile boat will be armed with four locally made Hsiungfeng II missiles.
The fleet is to replace dozens of aging 50-metric-ton Seagull missile boats, each of which is fitted with two 40-kilometer-range Hsiungfeng I missiles.
Vice Adm. Hsu Chu-sheng had said the new ships will play a critical role in the next few years, when the military balance between Taiwan and China is expected to tip towards Beijing.
China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence, prompting Taiwan to push for an arms build-up. Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
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The Taiwanese design does not look as sleek as the Swedish Stealth Boat - "Visby Class" - which also resemble that offered by Singapore Technologies Marine.
From the picture posted, there seems to be so much clutter of guns and equipment that are not shielded by any radar absorbing plates - as one can see from the clean lines of the Swedish design.
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This also goes for their Kang Ding(Lafeyette) class stealth frigate. They added so many non stealth weapons such as the Chaparral SAM and the Phalanx CIWS such that it becomes more visible to the radar.
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The Visby class certainly looks much better. The camouflage scheme on the vessel is very special, i am wondering why the navies in most parts of the world ignore camouflage for their vessels especially for smaller boats. Maybe our navy can do something about this.
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Because Camo is useless at sea when the ship is moving because it's wake can be seen from miles away.Even worse at night with a moon.Originally posted by tankee1981:The Visby class certainly looks much better. The camouflage scheme on the vessel is very special, i am wondering why the navies in most parts of the world ignore camouflage for their vessels especially for smaller boats. Maybe our navy can do something about this.
Anyway the Stealth boat from the US looks the coolest.(it was featured in that james bond film)The Sea Shadow i believe was it's name....made by lockheed martin.It was found too stealthy for practical uses as it absorbed or deflected all the radar away leaving a black empty hole where the ship is.Usually waves reflect radar but this ship totally deflected everything
And the swedish ships looks better they have another small stealth patorl boat that looks pretty cool too
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Chaparral is only temporary when Aster 15 was not ready yet. Read report that they are looking at upgrading to Aster 15/30 or ESSM.Originally posted by eurofighter:This also goes for their Kang Ding(Lafeyette) class stealth frigate. They added so many non stealth weapons such as the Chaparral SAM and the Phalanx CIWS such that it becomes more visible to the radar. -
The new Taiwanese stealth boat don't look very impressive leh, maybe its the software that is advanced.