New advances in the development of electromagnetic rail guns (ERG) could have a major impact on the defense of Taiwan, an expert in Asian military affairs said.
“[ERGs] could be ready by the early 2020s,” International Assessment and Strategy Center senior fellow Rick Fisher said.
US Navy officials revealed this week that they plan to test-fire a rail gun at sea for the first time in the summer of next year.
Photo: AP
The gun is to fire a series of hypervelocity projectiles fitted with GPS electronics at a barge floating in the ocean about 80km from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
Directed Energy and Electric Weapon Systems program manager US Navy Captain Mike Ziv told a US Navy League symposium that the first firing was a “significant event” and a “key learning point.”
The symposium was told that rail guns could fire guided, high-speed projectiles more than 160km and could be a formidable defense against cruise and ballistic missiles.
“This one technology has the potential to reverse the ‘cost-benefit ratio’ on the Taiwan Strait and to extend real deterrence potential for another decade, while allowing Taipei to sustain a largely defensive military strategy,” Fisher told the Taipei Times.
He said that Taiwan was buying US$3 million missile interceptors to shoot down US$1 million Chinese short-range ballistic missiles.
Rail guns could be able to shoot down Chinese missiles and attack aircraft with projectiles at much less cost.
“It can perform missile defense, air defense and anti-invasion missions, and also attack most of the new long-range anti-aircraft missile systems China is basing near the Taiwan Strait to threaten Taiwan’s air force,” Fisher said.
He said: “If China’s leaders see they cannot overwhelm Taiwan with missile strikes, achieve air superiority and thus assure the security of its invasion fleet, they will probably think more than twice about attacking Taiwan.”
“These are the potential benefits for Taiwan of the rail gun,” he said.
Fisher added: “It is a strategic and moral necessity for Washington to be working with Taipei to enable the early transfer of rail gun technology.”
According to the Defense Tech Web site, the rail gun being developed by the US Navy uses electricity to create a magnetic field to propel a kinetic energy projectile at about 5,600 miles per hour (9,000kph).
It can accelerate a 45-pound (20kg) projectile from zero to 5,000 miles per hour (8,046kph) in less than a second, the Web site said.
The projectiles, able to travel at 2,000 meters per second, would cost less than US$100,000 each, while the gun would be able to fire them at a rate of about one every six seconds.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS