The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday released the results of its investigation into an accidental missile launch last month, saying a series of missteps and procedural violations caused the mishap.
A Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missile was accidentally launched from a Kaohsiung-based Chinchiang-class corvette ahead of a training exercise on July 1. The missile ripped through a fishing boat, killing the boat’s captain, Huang Wen-chung (黃文忠), and injuring three crew members.
The missile was launched because Petty Officer Second Class Kao Chia-chun (高嘉駿) accidentally connected unnecessary fire plugs — a connector assembly used to send launch orders, to a missile launcher — Navy Command Headquarters Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Kao was supposed to connect only two fire plugs, because safety devices were installed on only two of the ship’s four missiles, but he connected four, Mei said.
Kao’s supervisor, Chief Petty Officer Chen Ming-hsiu (陳銘修), should have requested only two fire plugs instead of four, while the ship’s weapon systems officers should only have given him two, Mei said.
Chen misunderstood orders for the drill, believing that all four missiles were to be prepared for the training exercise, but the exercise was only to simulate the launch of one missile, Mei said, adding that during a pre-drill rehearsal, Chen left the operations room after ordering Kao to establish two sets of firing solutions.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
According to protocol, Chen should have supervised Kao throughout the entire process, but Kao was left alone in the operations room as he went through the entire pre-launch process while rehearsing for the exercise, when he accidentally hit the launch button, Mei said.
“There were too many oversights and too much negligence. We are deeply distressed [by the incident], but we have made efforts to improve [launch procedures],” Mei said.
Asked how Chen could have misunderstood orders for the exercise, Mei said instructions were ambiguous, adding that the navy would make improvements.
“The missile system will also be redesigned to prevent accidental launches,” Mei said.
Ministry Inspector General Wu Pao-Kun (吳寶琨) said that the July 1 training exercise should not have been scheduled, because the ship’s commander had only been in command since April 11, while operational rules stipulate that such high-level drills are not allowed until a commander has been in charge for more than three months.
The ship was scheduled to begin a patrol mission immediately after the drill, and its commander, Major Lin Po-tse (林伯澤), had attended a pre-patrol meeting earlier that day, Wu added.
The tight schedule might have been a contributing factor to the accident, Wu said, adding that the ministry would prevent such scheduling issues.
“In addition to the navy’s previously announced disciplinary action, the ship’s executive officer and officers who approved the drill are to be punished for procedural violations and failing to provide proper supervision,” Wu said.
The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday charged Kao, Chen and Lieutenant Hsu Po-wei (許博為), the ship’s weapon systems officer, with causing the incident.
Kao was charged with negligence resulting in the death of the fishing boat’s captain, which could result in a five-year jail term if he is found guilty.
Chen and Hsu were charged with neglecting their duties and causing an accident, which carry a total prison term of three to 10 years.
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
J-6 REMODEL: The converted drones are part of Beijing’s expanding mix of airpower weapons, including bombers with stand-off missiles and UAV swarms, the report said China has stationed obsolete supersonic fighters converted to attack drones at six air bases close to the Taiwan Strait, a report published this month by the Arlington, Virginia-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies said. Satellite imagery of the airfields from the institute’s “China Airpower Tracker” shows what appear to be lines of stubby, swept-winged aircraft matching the shape of J-6 fighters that first flew with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in the 1960s. Since their conversion to drones, the aircraft have been identified at five bases in China’s Fujian Province and one in Guangdong Province, the report said. J.
China used fake LinkedIn profiles to harvest sensitive data from NATO and EU institutions by soliciting information from staff, a European security source said on Friday. The operation, allegedly orchestrated by the Chinese Ministry of State Security, targeted dozens of employees at the military alliance or EU organizations through fictitious accounts, the source said, confirming reports in French and Belgian media. Posing as recruiters on the online professional networking platform, Chinese spies would initially request paid reports before later soliciting non-public or even classified information. One particularly active fake profile used the name “Kevin Zhang,” claiming to be the head
RSS