Taipei received its latest cutter this week from a $1.3 billion program initiated almost a decade ago to expand Taiwan’s white hull fleet to counter coercive Chinese activities, US Naval Institute News reports.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) took delivery of the 1,000-ton patrol ship Penghu (CG 1007) from the CSBC Corporation’s Keelung shipyard on Tuesday. The cutter is the fifth vessel in a class of six from a 2018 plan that sought to commission up to 141 patrol vessels of various designs into the CGA.
“The progressive deployment of large Coast Guard vessels not only strengthens frontline enforcement capabilities but also demonstrates the nation’s resolve to maintain maritime security and safeguard its maritime territory,” reads a CGA release on the delivery of the cutter.
Aside from the six 1,000-ton patrol frigates, the 2018 plan also includes four 4,000-ton Chiayi-class patrol vessels, 12 of the 600-ton Anping-class patrol catamarans and 119 smaller coastal patrol boats.
While the CGA designates the class as a 1,000-ton patrol frigate, infographics from the agency list its full load displacement as 2,077 tons. The first ship of the class, Changhua (CG 1001), entered Taiwanese service in 2022. Since then, the agency has accepted one cutter from the class annually.
Compared to legacy 1,000-ton designs, Penghu is armed with a remote-controlled 70mm rocket turret. Originally pitched for coastal defense missions by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, a state-owned defense contractor, the CGA picked up the system to arm its primary patrol forces. The Hydra 70 turrets mark a significant leap in firepower from the agency’s previously deployed 40mm guns.
Penghu can operate at speeds up to 24 knots and operate out to 6,000 nautical miles. Taipei relies on the endurance of these vessels to maintain a frontline in an ongoing hybrid conflict with Beijing’s Coast Guard forces in the waters surrounding Taiwan. The agency’s smaller vessels are frequently deployed to counter Chinese incursions around Taiwanese islands near China. CGA sailors have also boarded, detained and impounded intruding fishing vessels.
During the delivery ceremony, Taiwanese officials highlighted that the CGA “drove away 451 mainland Chinese vessels” since the beginning of 2026. Penghu will soon join these efforts from the Southern Coastal Patrol Office in Kaohsiung.
With concerns over increased Chinese activity around Taiwan and its outlying islands, the CGA’s fleet has recognized its role in a potential conflict. The Anping-class was derived from a Republic of China Navy fast attack craft armed with a dozen anti-ship missiles. In wartime, these white-hulled catamarans can be equipped with this armament. Previous exercises have validated this capability.
