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Military poised to buy locally developed hoverplanes

A hoverplane developed by the Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) is expected to be ordered by the military for special uses, officials with the CSIST said yesterday.

In the past few years, several prototypes of the craft, (also known as a Wing-in-ground effect vehicle or WIG) have been tested, but none of them has gone into production. That could change if the CSIST gets the order from the military.

Basically, a hoverplane is a type of half boat, half airplane that flies close to the surface of the water. It is related to the more familiar hovercraft, but whereas a hovercraft has fans that continuously blow up a static air cushion, a WIG vehicle rides on a dynamic air cushion created by its own forward movement and generates lift by its forward speed.

By taking advantage of the resulting reduced drag and increased lift, a WIG can achieve greater speeds than most ships -- two to seven times greater.

It usually keeps a distance of between 30cm to 1m from the water surface to get the greatest lift.

The CSIST prototypes, called the Hailing No. 1 models, were initially scheduled to be made public last month in Tamsui.

However, their unveiling was canceled due to opposition from some high-ranking defense officials who didn't want too many people to know about the WIGs or their intended purpose.

An official with the CSIST, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one branch of the armed forces has shown interest in buying the vehicle. He declined, however, to reveal which armed service wants to buy the hoverplanes and for what purposes the WIGs are to be used.

In other countries, such as Russia, ground effect vehicles are used for special missions ranging from surprise missile attacks, high-speed patrols, mine warfare, anti-submarine maneuvers and remote-controlled attacks.

The hoverplane that the CSIST has successfully developed boasts a maximum speed of 100kmh. It needs only about an hour to travel from Taichung to Kinmen -- an island still considered "frontline" by the military.

The Hailing No. 1 prototypes that have already been built and tested are capable of carrying 10 or fewer people.

But the CSIST has also designed a new model, the as-yet unbuilt Hailing No. 2, which would be much larger and capable of carrying between 80 to 100 passengers -- ? ideal for sea transportation.

The CSIST started developing a hoverplane in 1996. The project was initially part of the government's plan to develop a "blue super highway" around the island.

The CSIST was said to have bought the designs from a foreign country which has a long history in the development of such hoverplanes. With the ready-made designs, the CSIST was able to build and test several prototypes in less than five years.

Since the development of the WIG has been smooth and steady thanks to foreign technical assistance, the military is willing to consider the possibility of buying it.

The marine corps is most likely to be the buyer, since it will need a high-speed transportation craft like the Hailing to execute missions such as surprise attacks and penetration into the enemy line.

The need is made all the more urgent by the fact that China already has various ground effect vehicles in service which are capable of launching surprise attacks against Taiwan.
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