The Taiwanese anti-ship missile that was accidentally launched last week, hitting a Taiwanese fishing boat and killing its captain, is a powerful weapon in which foreign nations have expressed interest since the Paris Air Show last year, a source in the Ministry of National Defense told reporters.
The source said the Hsiung Feng III is the mainstay of the Taiwanese military’s ship-killing arsenal, and one of the few supersonic anti-ship missiles in the world to be independently designed and produced, making it a desirable item in the global arms market.
However, the ministry does not foresee the possibility of selling the Hsiung Feng III to other nations, as the missile has just entered mass production and is a restricted weapon whose export is constrained by factors outside of the ministry’s control, the source said.
Photo: AFP
Researched and developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the Hsiung Feng III has a maximum effective range of between 130km and 150km, while a new extended-range model has a range of more than 300km.
When the institute became a legal entity under the control of the Executive Yuan, it was directed to showcase Taiwan’s defense technology to the international community, and has since then actively participated in international aeronautic exhibitions, the source said.
Several potential buyers made inquiries through intermediaries about the weapon’s technical specifications following the deadly mishap, the source said.
Because it is an aircraft-carrier-killing weapon, the nation’s allies have repeatedly expressed interest in it during joint military events, the source said.
Even at the research and development stage of the missile, representatives from foreign government agencies and arms makers contacted the government and the institute about Taipei’s willingness to sell the weapon or technology related to it, the source said.
The Taiwanese military’s purchase program for the Hsiung Feng III ran from 2007 to last year, and had a total budget of NT$11.89 billion (US$368.3 million), including deployment costs.
The commonly cited price of NT$100 million for 120 missiles is a misconception, the source said, because it fails to take into account the added cost of refurbishing facilities and one-year’s supply of spare parts.
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and