Zhonghai Class Frigate 3D Model

Initially the Taiwan Navy hoped that the "new generation missile frigate" would be awarded the contract in 2019 to confirm the contract shipyard, sign the contract and start construction. The first ship will take three years to build (2019 to 2021) and be delivered to the navy in 2021. However, according to the data of the 2019 National Defense Budget, the development period of the first ship of the "New Generation Missile Cruiser" had been relaxed to 7 to 8 years, and the delivery time of the prototype ship had been delayed by five years. This shows that the phased array radar, combat system and air defense development and integration will take some time to mature.
Prototype shipyard trial, delivered to the navy in May 2027, military training will be conducted from May to August 2027, and initial operational evaluation will be conducted from August 2027 to February 2028. The navy initially planned to build six to 10 of the frigates. The Taiwan Navy planned to build the first batch of four new-generation missile frigates, and finally hoped that the total will reach 15. After the prototype ship is completed and undergoes operational evaluation, if the performance meets the navy's needs, 14 to 19 follow-up ships will be built. The number of ships will gradually replace the current Knox-class and Lafayette-class warships This means that the Taiwan Navy intends to build 15 to 20 "new-generation missile frigates," which will eventually be able to fully replace the existing "second-generation ships" of the Chenggong class, Jiyang class, and Kangding class