Taiwan is developing missiles that can attack enemy air bases and bring down cruise missiles, and drones that can target their firing locations, a report by the military-owned body making the weapons said.
Taiwan last year approved NT$240 billion (US$8.2 billion) in extra military spending over the next five years as tensions with China have hit a new high and Chinese military planes have repeatedly flown through Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
Taiwan plans to more than double its annual missile production capacity to close to 500 this year, the Ministry of National Defense said last month, as it boosts its combat power.
Photo: Lo Tien-pin, Taipei Times
In a report to the Legislative Yuan this week, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology offered more details of what the missiles and drones it is developing could do in a war.
The Hsiung Sheng land-attack missile, which experts say could have a range of up to 1,000km, comes in two versions: one with a high-explosive warhead to hit bunkers and hardened command centers, and the other with “dispersal” munitions to take out airfield facilities, it said.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), a researcher at the Taipei-based National Policy Foundation, said the Hsiung Sheng could reach most bases under the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command, including those near Shanghai and the province of Zhejiang.
“It could greatly boost the national army’s capacity to delay or paralyze the communist forces’ pace of an invasion of Taiwan, making it hard for them to achieve a rapid war,” he said.
The advanced Sky Bow III surface-to-air missile is designed to take down ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as fighter jets.
Taiwan’s plans predate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the war has prompted conversations about the lessons Taiwan could apply to fighting off a Chinese attack, including how Ukraine has resisted a numerically superior force.
One Taiwan-based Western security source said that although Taiwan was getting gear such as Harpoon anti-ship missiles from the US, its own missile program would help ensure the country would not have to rely on foreign supplies, as Ukraine has.
“It’s a hedging strategy,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The institute said that drones, which Ukraine has used to great effect against Russia’s military, could attack enemy missile launch sites or act as decoys to help pinpoint enemy radars.
Four new facilities, including bases and repair plants, would be built by 2025 for the new drones, it said.
The ministry has previously announced plans to start manufacturing unspecified “attack drones,” with an annual production target of 48 such aircraft.
Little has been disclosed about the domestically produced drones. The first batch of US-made MQ-9 Reaper drones, which can be armed with missiles and operate at long range, is to enter service by 2025, the ministry said last month.
About 64 percent of Taiwan’s extra military spending, which came on top of planned military spending of NT$471.7 billion for next year, is to be spent on anti-ship weapons, such as land-based missile systems, including a NT$148.9 billion plan to mass produce homegrown missiles and “high-performance” ships.
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
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
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
RSS