They are based upon the U.S. Oliver Hazard Perry class and built by China Shipbuilding Corporation in Kaohsiung, Taiwan under license throughout the 1990s as part of the Kuang Hua I project.

These frigates served as the mainstay of the ROCN's area air defense capability prior to the acquisition of the Keelung (Kidd)-class destroyers in 2005.

The Kwang Hua I project came out of renewed relations between the Republic of China and the United States following the election of President Ronald Reagan.

Reagan's government took a harder stance with mainland China and began joint defense projects with the Taiwanese military.

Among them was the Kwang Hua I project which was part of a series of new surface warships being transferred from the United States or developed with their aid.

However, later developments of mainland China's surface fleet led to the arming of ROCN warships with surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs).

[1] The Cheng Kung class are based on the long-hulled version of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates of the United States Navy but with modifications.

[2] They carry 587 long tons (596 t)[3] of fuel giving them a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).

[3] The frigates were initially armed with eight Hsiung Feng II SSMs placed in two box launchers located atop the superstructure aft of the bridge.

[3][a] The Cheng Kung class mounts a 20 mm (0.79 in)/76 Phalanx close-in weapon system (CIWS) atop the hangar.

[9] On November 5, 2012, Taiwan announced the U.S. government would sell them two additional Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates that are about to be retired from the United States Navy for a cost of US$240 million.

The Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2013[10] was signed by President Barack Obama in 2014, allowing up to four of the frigates to be sold to Taiwan.