Always nice to see what others are doing.
We have talked about a cutter X before, that is, a cutter larger than the Webber class, but smaller than the Offshore Patrol Cutter, that would allow more days cruising at a distance from their home ports than is possible for the Webber class.
Focus Taiwan is reporting (it is their video above) Taiwan is building ships in this class but in a very different form, for a very different purpose. It measures 60.4 meters in length and 14 meters in width, with a crew of 41. It is fast at 38 knots and has a range of 2,000 nautical miles. (This is actually less than the range of the Webber class, but if this is quoted for a higher cruise speed, the range could actually be greater than that of the Webber class at the same lower speed.) The great beam is the give away, the hull is something unusual.
Janes.com has pictures of the hull out of the water. A separate Janes report lists the armament as eight Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) and eight ramjet-powered Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles, an “Otobreda 76 mm gun, four 12.7 mm machine guns for close-range ship defence and a Mk 15 Phalanx close-in weapon system (CIWS) to defeat incoming projectiles and hostile aircraft.”
We have seen a similar hull form before.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
I wouldn’t like to go far in her. Pitching and rolling and rolling and a pitching………..
Yes these need active stabilization systems.
Yes. But really shouldn’t have to “fix” the hull with tech’. She is too short. Multi-hulls always roll; she will always be pushing at the sea when manoeuvring. I sometimes think Orientals don’t believe computer models and have to see it in the metal! Simple none SWATH multi-hulls have their place but they are not a panacea for the relative low speed of ships. If they want to kill carriers probably best done with SSKs and nice long range missiles with land based fast air running interference.
I am not anti-unconventional hull at all, but to get it right is rare.
Multihulls certainly open up some interesting possibilities…
On the micro end of the scale, I quite like the 75 ton trimarans designed by Nigel Irens. With 5,000nm range at 12kts and a platform for a rotary UAV they have some of that “X factor” for your Cutter X.
Looking forward to seeing them at sea next year.
http://www.nigelirens.com/2014/ocean-eagle-43-delivered-to-cmn-cherbourg
[IMG]http://www.meretmarine.com/sites/default/files/styles/mem_846_article_content/public/new_objets_drupal/20141010011412_1003-144_SEAQ02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.nigelirens.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/OceanEagle43-2.jpg[/IMG]
Let’s see if the pictures work now:
Yes! But everything is about these is right compared to the Taiwanese vessel. Decent length. And the sponsons/out hull are nowhere near as deep as that well shaped centre hull meaning no undue roll problems.
Apparently Taiwan is learning you cannot overload a multi-hull. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/02/06/2003610946
“It was like changing the design for a dress while a lady was already wearing it,” he said
That’s classic.
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First of these is being commissioned https://www.marinelink.com/news/taiwan-commissions-new-coast-guard-ships-483846?utm_source=MR-ENews-Weekdays-2020-12-15&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MR-ENews