The army is to buy a type of anti-ship missile from abroad for use by its attack helicopters, which currently do not have effective weapons against surface targets, an army general said on Tuesday.
The army wants to buy the anti-ship version of the US-made Hellfire missile while still keeping an eye on a better option produced by Norway -- the Penguin, sources said.
Army 6th corps commander Lieutenant General Hu Cheng-pu (
Hu, the former deputy chief of the general staff for operations, mentioned the army's anti-ship missile purchase plan in an attempt to convince the press that the poor performance of the Hellfire missile in the exercise was due to the fact it was not designed for attack against surface targets.
The Hellfire that the army fired in the exercise was anti-armor, not anti-ship. A total of two the missiles were fired in the exercise, with one missing the target while the other failing to bring any serious damage to the target, which was a small landing craft.
The two Hellfires were fired from AH-1W attack helicopters, which are the backbone of the army's airborne forces. The Hellfire missiles that the army has in its inventory are all anti-armor versions, rather than anti-ship variants that the US successfully developed in recent years.
The Hankuang No. 19 exercise test results were enough to show that the army does need to buy the anti-ship version of the Hellfire.
Major General Hsu Chih-lu (許志陸), commander of the 601st airborne brigade, acknowledged that the army does want to buy the anti-ship version of the Hellfire missile.
The anti-ship Hellfire might not be the only choice being considered by the army. An internal publication of the army, which features articles on the army's vision for the future, says that the Norway-made Penguin anti-ship missile should be the right type of weapon for the army's attack helicopters.
Chang Li-teh (
"The Penguin has a much longer range than the Hellfire. But the army does not have the ability to guide a missile of such range," Chang said.
"Besides, the Penguin might not be able to be installed on the AH-1W," he said.
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