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Naval
Forces News - USA, Taiwan |
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| Taiwan
(Republic of China) Navy Receives Two ex-US Navy Minehunters |
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Two
refitted coastal minehunters purchased from the United States were delivered
to Taiwan Thursday, beefing up the country's naval defense capabilities,
the ROC Navy reported. This is part of a deal valued at $6.4 billion.
The two Osprey-class minehunters, the former USS Oriole (MHC-55) and
USS Falcon (MHC-59), were decommissioned by the US Navy in 2007 and
were approved for sale to Taiwan at a cost of approximately $105 million
in 2010.
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USS Oriole minhunter, Osprey class
(Picture: US Navy)
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The vessels will improve the ROC Navy's ability to
locate and destroy all types of naval mines. Osprey-class minehunters
were designed to locate, classify, and destroy naval mines in coastal
waterways, harbors, and littoral areas. These ships are equipped with
an array of mine-hunting devices including Raytheon AN/SQQ-32 sonar,
AN/SLQ-48 Mine Neutralizing Vehicles (MNV), video sensors, remotely-controlled
mine detonators, cable cutters, and two .50 caliber machineguns. The
minehunters have a cruising speed of 10 knots and mission endurance
of 15 days.
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