Affected by the delay in the delivery of the main engine, the delivery schedule of the two light cruiser prototypes will be postponed to 2016 (file photo, photo by reporter Chen Zhicheng). As for the subsequent mass production of the light cruiser, it will be adjusted to an enlarged version of the Tuojiang-class ship, a twin-hull firepower ship.
[Reporter Luo Tianbin/Reporting from Taipei] The construction of the Navy's much-anticipated new-generation "light frigate" prototype ship was previously delayed due to global supply chain hurdles, but the latest progress has achieved a major breakthrough! Senior military personnel confirmed today that the "global host shortage" problem that originally worried the outside world the most has been solved. CITIC Shipyard has recently received notification from its sub-contractor that the main engines of the two prototypes of anti-aircraft and anti-submarine ships will undergo in-factory acceptance testing at foreign original factories in the near future. Once the test passes, it will be immediately shipped to the shipyard in Taiwan by sea to re-wind the delayed shipbuilding project.
The light frigate prototype built this time is divided into two styles: "air defense type" and "anti-submarine type". Although the hull size is the same, the armament has its own characteristics. The air defense type is the main strike force for defending the airspace. For the first time, it is equipped with 32 domestically made "Huayang Vertical Launch Systems" loaded with "Haijian II" anti-aircraft missiles, which can deal with multiple air targets at the same time. Eight Xiongfeng III supersonic anti-ship missiles are also installed in the center of the ship, which is full of threat. The anti-submarine type plays the role of an underwater killer, equipped with two triple anti-submarine torpedo launch tubes and advanced towed sonar, specifically designed to hunt enemy submarines. Although it does not have a vertical launch box, the anti-ship missiles are doubled to 16 in one breath. It adopts a "mixed" configuration of two and three males, and its firepower is also very fierce.
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The picture shows President Lai Ching-te presiding over the ceremony of the Navy's "anti-aircraft" light frigate prototype ship Anlong in November 2024. (File photo, taken by reporter Li Huizhou)
In addition to the lethal weapons of these two types of ships, the "basic self-defense weapons" and "brains" of the two ships have also been fully upgraded. The bow of the ship is equipped with a 76mm stealth fast cannon, and the stern is guarded by a phalanx of fast cannons. Two 20mm remote-controlled weapon stations are installed on each side to deal with asymmetric threats near the shore. The most important reconnaissance brain is the famous British Type 997 3D air-to-sea search radar, coupled with the CMS-330 combat management system of the American Lockheed Martin Company.
Senior military personnel emphasized that, except for the main engine, all other equipment had arrived at the factory smoothly as planned and everything was ready.
In the past, the delay in delivery of the main engine of the light cruiser caused delays in the progress of the entire project. After all, the main engine is the heart of the entire ship and must be placed at the bottom of the hull first. If the main engine is not in place within a day, the shipyard will be unable to stack and weld the ship sections above. This also forced the Ministry of National Defense to revise the plan in August 2025, delaying the delivery of the prototype ship from 2026 to 2027, and the completion of the entire project was also postponed to 2028.
Now that the host crisis has been resolved, the Navy and CITIC Shipbuilding are relieved. Relevant sources said that they will continue to dispatch personnel to strictly control CITIC's construction progress and construction quality. As soon as the main engine arrives in Taiwan, the shipyard will immediately start processes such as ship section construction and structural closure, and make every effort to catch up on the lagging progress. The smooth advancement of these two light frigate prototypes will not only effectively relieve the patrol pressure of the Navy's aging Jiyang-class and Chenggong-class frigates currently in service, but also lay the most critical step for the 10 follow-up mass-produced ships planned in the future.
