Mechanical problems and human error were behind another less-than-stellar air defense missile test on Monday, on the heels of an equally unsatisfactory major missile exercise earlier this year.
Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) said mechanical problem and operational shortcomings were responsible for the poor performance of Monday’s missile tests, adding that the military would continue to investigate the causes of the malfunctions.
Missile performance is “unstable,” Kao told reporters in the legislature yesterday.
The missile exercise was held at the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s (CSIST) Jiupeng testing base in Pingtung County, the same location as the missile test on Jan. 18, in which six of the 19 missiles fired encountered technical problems.
Following January’s exercise, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was present at the drill, said he was “not happy” with the results and that he hoped the military would determine the reasons and improve its training.
News of the latest failure was first made public by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌). Soon afterwards, the military confirmed the failure.
One locally made Tien Chien II “Sky Sword” (TC-II) fired from a Ching Kuo Indigenous Defense Fighter, one US-made AIM-7 “Sparrow” fired from an F-16A/B, one French-made MICA fired from a Mirage 2000 and one -surface-to-air “Sparrow” were used in the exercise, the Air Force said.
The TC-II and AIM-7 hit their targets, while the MICA and surface-to-air “Sparrow” missed, it said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) said the military had failed to improve its performance, adding this was a serious warning to the Air Force and the public could lose confidence in the nation’s air defense capabilities.
The latest failure comes in the wake on an announcement by the National Security Bureau (NSB) that China was continuing to modernize the very ballistic missile capabilities against which the missiles tested on Monday and in January are deployed.
NSB Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) told the legislature last week that China had begun deploying longer-range Dong Feng-16 (DF-16) ballistic missiles and that older short-range ballistic missiles, such as the DF-11 and DF-15, were now equipped with multiple warheads, which would add a substantial burden to Taiwan’s air defense systems.
Although the deployment of the DF-16 has yet to be confirmed by allied intelligence, a number of defense experts have said their existence was not in doubt, given that the DF-11s and DF-16s, developed in the 1980s and fielded in the 1990s, were due for an overhaul.
Meanwhile, Kao said the military would improve the training and equipment of its chemical warfare corps amid efforts to strengthen its ability to cope with nuclear disasters, adding that it might reconsider a plan announced earlier this week to downsize its chemical warfare corps by as much as 30 percent from about 3,000 personnel.
Additional reporting by J. Michael Cole and CNA
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