Lung Teh Shipbuilding wins bid for ‘Swift Sea’ prototype

A computer rendition of the corvette by MND

The firm has never built vessels for the military before. Expect delays during full production 

The Taiwanese navy announced today that Lung Teh Shipbuilding Co had won a bid on May 4 to build prototypes of a 450/500-tonne fast attack, radar-evading missile boat under the Hsun Hai (“Swift Sea”) program, with plans for completion by the end of 2014.

Lung Teh will start construction in six months and plans to complete the platform and weapons system in 30 months, with full construction by the end of 2014. This is the first military contract for Lung Teh, and the navy said it would send naval officials who were involved in the development of the Kuang Hua VI fast-attack boats to supervise the development.

As reported in late April, the legislature last year passed a NT$24.98 billion (US$853.4 million) budget to build between seven and 11 corvettes, which will be equipped with eight Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) and Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles.