Several hundred AIM/RIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles (SAM) used by the air force have been categorized as “for emergency use only” after three of the US-made missiles encountered technical failures during an exercise in January last year that left the military embarrassed.
Following the exercise, in which one RIM-7 climbed about 200m into the air before plummeting into the South China Sea, while another RIM-7 and one AIM-7 missed their targets, the military requested that US military personnel and Raytheon Corp, maker of the missile, investigate the reasons for the failures.
The Sparrow is a medium-range, all-weather and semi-active guided missile. Six hundred AIM-7Ms were part of a 1992 deal in which Taiwan procured 150 F-16A/Bs.
Photo: CNA
For its part, the RIM-7 SAM is used on towed launchers as part of the Skyguard Air Defense System. Five hundred entered service in 1991.
As Taiwan awaits a response, the air force has suspended the test-firing of Sparrow missiles, citing safety concerns.
The US has reportedly asked countries that have Sparrow missiles in their inventories not to fire them during exercises to diminish training risks. As a result, no Sparrows were fired during another major missile test in Jioupeng (九鵬), Pingtung County, on July 9, the same base used in last year’s exercise.
Citing sources in the military, local media said earlier this week that US military personnel had attributed the failure in last year’s exercise to problems with the missile’s rocket propeller and radar cross section, which plays an essential role in radar range calculation.
Until answers are received, Taiwan’s stockpile of Sparrow missiles will be kept in storage.
To address the impact of that decision on air defense capabilities, the military has reportedly decided to provide two additional battalions with Antelope Air Defense Systems, which are equipped with the a surface-to-air version of the domestically produced Tien Chien I missile.
Days after it was banned in China, a Mandarin ballad satirizing nationalistic Chinese Internet users is trending at No. 1 on YouTube in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Fragile (玻璃心), by Taiwan-based Malaysian rapper Namewee (黃明志) and Australian singer Kimberley Chen (陳芳語), offers a tongue-in-cheek apology to “little pink” Internet users, a disparaging term that describes patriotic “keyboard warriors” from China. After racking up more than 9 million views on YouTube, the song reached No. 3 on the site in Malaysia on Thursday, according to Kworb, a Web site that analyzes music data from around the world. It is also the only Chinese-language
NO CHANGE: US officials indicated that the ‘one China’ policy remains in place, while the NATO chief avoided discussing Biden’s comment in an effort to ease tensions US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Friday that the Pentagon would continue to support Taiwan’s military, but he declined to say if US troops would defend the island against China, after US President Joe Biden said there was a US “commitment” to do so. “As we’ve done over multiple administrations, we will continue to help Taiwan with the sorts of capabilities that it needs to defend itself,” Austin said at NATO headquarters. “So we’ll stay focused on those things, and I won’t engage in any hypotheticals with respect to Taiwan,” he told reporters. Biden on Thursday sparked a new firestorm
PROTECTION: The Ministry of Health and Welfare is aiming for a full vaccination rate of 30 percent, and allowing mixed first and second doses to boost coverage rates Whether Taiwan reopens its borders would depend on the nation’s vaccination coverage rate and the COVID-19 situation in other countries, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare is aiming for a 70 percent first-dose vaccination coverage and 30 percent two-dose coverage as part of its consideration, Shih told a media briefing following the weekly Cabinet meeting. In spite of a relatively stable COVID-19 situation in Taiwan, and calls from foreign missions and businesses in the country to allow more international travelers, the government is maintaining strict border control measures. Since March last year,
The nationwide level 2 COVID-19 alert, which is set to expire on Monday next week, is to be extended, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday. Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), told reporters before heading to a meeting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei that the COVID-19 alert level “will not be lowered on November 2,” but he did not say how long the extension would be. Taiwan has been under level 2 alert, the third-highest on the nation’s four-tier scale, since July 27. The CECC yesterday reported eight new COVID-19 infections — six imported
RSS