Click here - to select or create a menu

Naval News

  • News
  • Event News
    • Indo Pacific 2022
    • Sea Air Space 2022
    • DIMDEX 2022
    • WDS 2022
    • DSEI 2021
    • MADEX 2021
  • Interviews
  • Videos
  • Advertising
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Home» News»ROC Navy Kang Ding-class Frigates Set For Decoy Launcher Upgrade
Euronaval 2022
Kang Ding-class frigate underway. ROC Navy picture
Kang Ding-class frigate underway. ROC Navy picture

ROC Navy Kang Ding-class Frigates Set For Decoy Launcher Upgrade

The Republic of China Navy (ROC Navy, Taiwan) has started a program to upgrade the decoy launchers aboard its French-built Kang Ding-class frigates. Following the upgrade, the DAGAIE MK2 launchers will be able to deploy next gen countermeasures which will better protect the vessels against modern anti-ship missiles.

Xavier Vavasseur 17 Apr 2020

Taiwan’s ministry of national defense announced earlier this month that DAGAIE MK2 decoy launcher upgrade kits will be procured from France for the ROC Navy’s six Kang Ding-class frigates. The budget for this procurement is in excess of 800 million yuan and has been awarded to French company DCI DESCO acting as prime contractor. DCI is a defense consultancy firm.

Naval News understands that the upgrade kits and ammunition (the decoys) will be produced in France by French countermeasure specialist Lacroix who supplied the original decoys for the DAGAIE launchers already fitted on the frigates (there are two launchers per ship).

Current placement of the DAGAIE decoy launchers. Original picture by ROC Navy, modified by Naval News.

The official ministry of national defense statement reads:

In response to the media report stating that “Taiwan’s navy upgraded the Kang Ding-class shipboard electronic warfare jamming system to be purchased from France and awarded more than 800 million yuan today”, the ROC navy command made the following statement today:

I. the Kang Ding-class warship jamming rocket launch system of the navy is a system combined with the combat system, which can effectively improve the survival rate of ships in the face of the threat of enemy missiles.

Ii. In order to seamlessly integrate the combat forces, avoid the formation of a combat force gap, and achieve the goal of rapidly improving the combat forces, and at the same time to consider the issue of French intellectual property rights, the military, after careful evaluation, handled the “Kang Ding-class ship jamming system life extension program” in accordance with the provisions of the government procurement law to meet the navy’s operational needs, and called for the support of the people.

Corner Reflector decoys in action. Lacroix image.

Naval News understands that the DAGAIE MK2 launchers will be able to deploy next generation countermeasures which will better protect the vessels against modern anti-ship missiles. Following their upgrade, the frigates will be able to deploy:

  • SEALEM (Corner Reflector – RF Decoy) mortars for seduction
  • SEALIR (Morphologic IR Decoy) mortars for seduction
  • REM rockets for distraction

Regarding SEALEM corncer reflector RF decoys and SEALIR morphologic IR decoys, Naval News previously quoted a Lacroix representative explaining:

Lacroix’s corner reflector (CNR) decoys (SEALEM) are closing the technology gap between old Chaff solutions and the increasing CCM capabilities of Radio Frequency (RF) guided missiles. A notable breakthrough in the domain of CCMs in Anti-Ship Missiles (ASM) are millimetric wave seekers. To be able to decoy a millimetric wave seeker operating in Ka-band or above it is necessary to cut chaff to the required length in order to be tuned with the wavelength of the radar which is a real technological challenge due to the small size. CNR decoys on the other hand are broadband and are therefore effective in I, J and all the way up to K band.

In the same vein, CNR decoys have an equal polarization ratio contrary to chaff. Indeed, Chaff dipoles tend to fall horizontally which can easily be discriminated by a vertically polarized antenna.

Lacroix combines salvos of CNR decoys with IR decoys. Lacroix’s IR decoy technology (SEALIR) relies on three core elements. First, SEALIR has an IR spectrum similar to a ship, which makes it effective against bi-colour seekers. Second, SEALIR technology offers long lasting effects with a single payload per engagement consistent with the increasing duration requirement to avoid discrimination based on strong level/time fluctuations due to firing renewal. Third, SEALIR is a morphologic funnel-like decoy capable of replicating the main signature contributors (exhaust & funnel) effective against IIR seekers.

About ROC Navy’s Kang Ding-class Frigates

All six frigates were built in France by DCN (now Naval Group) following a US$1.75 billion contract signed in the 1990ies between Taiwan and Thomson-CSF (Thales), acting as prime contractor. The design is based on the La Fayette-class of the French Navy.

The six ships of the class, commissioned with the ROC Navy between May 1996 and March 1998, are named after provincial capitals in mainland China under ROC’s pre-1949 political division:
Kang Ding (康定, PFG-1202)
Xi Ning (西寧, PFG-1203)
Kun Ming (昆明, PFG-1205)
Di Hua (迪化, PFG-1206)
Wu Chang (武昌, PFG-1207)
Chen De (承德, PFG-1208)

According to the ROC Navy’s website: The main role of the Kang Ding-class is to defend the Taiwan Strait and enforce the sea borders. It can perform anti air warfare (AAW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), escort, anti-blockade, and joint surface interception operations. The main degisn feature of the ship is its stealth design. The surface of the entire ship does not have a particularly protruding structure. Most of the deck equipment have been hidden in the ship, and its anti-ship missile launcher is also placed in the ship. The surface of the external area is also inclined at an angle of plus or minus 10 degrees to avoid complex shapes or rhomboid structures, which can disperse the radar wave and achieve the concealment effect.

◆ Full displacement: 3680 tons

◆ Maximum speed: 25 knots

◆ Length: 125 meters

◆ Width: 15.4 meters

◆ Draught: 5.5 meters

Decoy Launching System Electronic Warfare Kang Ding-class Lacroix ROC navy Taiwan 2020-04-17
Tags Decoy Launching System Electronic Warfare Kang Ding-class Lacroix ROC navy Taiwan
Facebook Twitter Stumble linkedin Pinterest More

Authors

Posted by : Xavier Vavasseur
Xavier is based in Paris, France. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Xavier has been covering naval defense topics for nearly a decade.

Related Articles

Lacroix Decoy Launchers Aboard All Qatari Navy Surface Combatants

Lacroix Decoy Launchers Aboard All Qatari Navy Surface Combatants

Xavier Vavasseur 20 Apr 2022
At DIMDEX 2022 French countermeasures specialist Lacroix was showcasing its naval Decoy Launching Systems (DLS) with a real SYLENA MK2 as the centerpiece of its booth.
Taiwan to Upgrade Kang Ding-class Frigates with French Assistance

Taiwan to Upgrade Kang Ding-class Frigates with French Assistance

Tso-Juei Hsu 04 Feb 2022
The Taiwanese navy (ROC Navy) provisioned a 43.1 billion New Taiwan Dollar (1.37 billion USD) budget to upgrade its 6 La Fayette type, Kang Ding-class, frigates from 2022.
Taiwan to complete IDS submarine pressure hull assembly by June

Taiwan to complete IDS submarine pressure hull assembly by June

Tso-Juei Hsu 31 Jan 2022
According to the latest Taiwanese cabinet report, the assembly of pressure hull blocks for the indigenous submarine is expected to be finished by the end of June 2022.

Advertisement

Legal / Privacy Policy
About Us
Contact Us

Copyright © 2022 Naval News
All Rights Reserved