The Republic of China navy has made a major breakthrough in the development of an absorbent paint that can provide stealth capabilities to its weapons platforms, local media reported yesterday.
The radar-absorbing material, which reports said has been in development for a number of years, was recently tested on a 57-tonne Hai Ou (“Seagull”)-class fast attack boat, which has no stealth features, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported.
Two Seagulls, the No. 53 and No. 59, were deployed during the test. The No. 53, whose hull, machine guns, missiles and cabin were coated with the absorbent material, remained invisible to radar, while the No. 59, which was used as a control and did not receive the coating, was easily detected.
Only after the No. 53 came within sight did the radar finally detect it, reports said.
The stealth coating has resulted in a halving of the distance at which a vessel remains invisible to radar, reports said.
The test with the two Seagulls reportedly involved both land-based radar and radar on board a ship at sea that was approached by the two attack boats. When the two Seagulls closed in on the ship, the control vessel was picked up by radar from a distance of 10km, while the No. 53, with the coating, was only detected after it had come within viewing distance.
When the two boats sailed away from the ship and could barely be observed by the naked eye, the No. 53 was no longer picked up by radar, while the control was still clearly visible, even at a distance exceeding 10km.
Unconfirmed reports within the navy also claim that during a test at night, an observer vessel was unable to pick up the No. 53 by radar at a distance of 730m.
Although Navy Command confirmed it had tested the coating on the Seagulls, it would not comment further on the tests.
It is not known whether the stealth coating would be used in the navy’s fleet of locally manufactured 170-tonne Kuang Hua VI (“Glorious China”)-class missile boats, whose design and shape already give it stealth capabilities.
Ten Kuang Hua-class vessels entered service in May last year. Another 20 are to be delivered by China Shipbuilding Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) to the navy by next February, bringing the fleet to 30.
The Kuang Hua VI, which come armed with four Hsiung Feng II (“Brave Wind”) ship-to-ship missiles developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST, 中山科學研究院), is intended to replace about 30 of the Israeli-designed Seagulls after the almost 20-year-old vessels are retired at the end of this year.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
There is no need for one country to control the semiconductor industry, which is complex and needs a division of labor, Taiwan’s top technology official said yesterday after US President Donald Trump criticized the nation’s chip dominance. Trump repeated claims on Thursday that Taiwan had taken the industry and he wanted it back in the US, saying he aimed to restore US chip manufacturing. National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) did not name Trump in a Facebook post, but referred to President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments on Friday that Taiwan would be a reliable partner in the
RSS