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.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and