Taiwan-made landing platform dock Yushan, a naval warship used to transport landing craft such as amphibious vehicles, is scheduled to enter service in June after it completed all required tests, a military source said yesterday.
The 10,600-tonne amphibious multi-mission vessel has completed the required tests and its crew have been trained, including familiarizing them with the landing platform dock’s operations, conducting supply missions and transporting landing craft mechanized, landing craft utility and missile vehicles, the anonymous source said.
A ship commissioning ceremony would be held next month to put the vessel into active service, they added.
Photo: CNA
Christened and launched in April 2021, the Yushan, named after the nation’s highest peak, is the first of four indigenous landing platform docks being built by local shipbuilder CSBC Corp, Taiwan for the navy.
It was delivered to the navy in October last year.
The navy held demonstrations of the Yushan at its home port in Kaohsiung in January to showcase its ability to transport Hsiung Feng II long-range missile batteries as well as armed personnel and utility carriers.
Using the Yushan, missiles such as the long-range Hsiung Feng II batteries can be deployed anywhere around Taiwan and its offshore islands, improving the military’s combat effectiveness.
Once in service, the Yushan would replace the existing Hsu Hai dock landing ship, which first entered service with the US Navy as the USS Pensacola in 1971, before being transferred to Taiwan in 1999.
The Yushan, with a length of 153m and a beam of 23m, has a maximum speed of 20 knots and a range of 11,265km. It can 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, which can accommodate two military helicopters at a time, the military said.
The Yushan would be responsible for transporting supplies and personnel to the country’s outlying islands, the military said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS