It is likely that the military’s Hsiung Feng III (“Brave Wind,” HF-3) missile would be upgraded with military-grade GPS technology, which would greatly increase its precision strike capabilities, military source said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
The HF-3 supersonic anti-surface missile is the main missile used by Taiwanese military ships and coastal batteries, they said.
The missile’s effective range is about 150km, while an augmented version of the HF-3 with an effective range of 250km to 400km is rumored to have passed combat trials, the source said.
The deployed missiles use commercial GPS technology, which is less accurate than military-grade GPS, they said.
The military has neither confirmed nor denied rumors that the augmented HF-3 is being produced in small numbers, they added.
The US government is to sell Taiwan General Atomics MQ-9B Sky Guardian drones and coastal Harpoon missile batteries, which both have military-grade GPS, and it is likely that the HF-3 would also be upgraded with the technology, they said.
The sale includes 4 MQ-9B drones with two mobile and two stationary ground control stations, and 14 Embedded GPS/Inertial Navigations System receivers with Selective Availability Anti-spoofing Modules, 12 of which would be installed on the drones.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) last year asked then-defense minister Yen De-fa (嚴得發) whether the MQ-9Bs and the Harpoon systems would be equipped with military-grade GPS, and whether the equipment would be compatible with the US military’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) system.
Yen affirmed the questions and said that Taiwan was seeking to integrate with the C4ISR system.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
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CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
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