The navy has renewed the initiative for building next-generation guided missile frigates, Ministry of National Defense bidding notices showed.
They sought designs for a frigate’s hull structure, command and control, radar, propulsion and weapon systems, among others, a request for information on procurement posted on the government’s public information Web site on Tuesday last week showed.
The next-generation guided missile frigate was not mentioned by name, but Taiwan has no other frigate programs.
Photo: Taipei Times
The navy had previously obtained a draft for the 6,500-tonne advanced warship, significantly more than the planned 4,500 tonnes.
That meant either the state-run Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology achieved a breakthrough in creating a compact active electronically scanned array (AESA) or the navy gave up on the original concept and returned to the drawing board.
The proposed frigates — meant to serve as the centerpiece of the navy’s surface fleet — faced troubles during its development, as the program had to change requirements and specifications.
The Control Yuan last year released a report saying that the program had been mismanaged, resulting in delays that compromised national defense.
The navy had told the public that the next-generation warship would be equal to and compatible with the Aegis combat system used by the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
That advanced warship would have been armed with a domestically-produced battle management system and vertical launching system, anti-ship and air defense weapons, and sonar, they said.
However, the initial requirements the navy submitted to the Chungshan Institute specified a passive electronically scanned array, only for the navy to switch to an AESA after development was well on its way.
The Chungshan Institute developed the AESA capability as requested, but the system proved too bulky for the intended size of the frigate, a problem that led to the program being shelved.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
RSS