A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday.
Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China.
They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said.
Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei Times
The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at improving naval and air combat capabilities, and while the project’s time line was four years, the majority of production would be completed this year, they said.
Two other versions of the HF-2E missile system are already in use by the air force. They are classified as either Type A or Type B, with Type A having a range of 500km and Type B having a range of 1,000km due to their different propulsion systems.
The military developed a new turbofan engine codenamed Kunpeng (鯤鵬) for the Type B missile, which is able to fly farther while conserving fuel, one source said.
The Type A missile was first tested in 2004, and the Type B in 2007, the source said, adding that both have since been in regular mass production and supplied to the air force’s missile brigade.
“The new longer-range surface-to-surface cruise missile ... looks similar to the American Tomahawk,” the source said.
Although the ministry has not specifically disclosed the range of the Hsiung Sheng, sources have put it at up to 1,200km.
A report submitted to the Legislative Yuan in April 2022 revealed that the Hsiung Sheng can carry high-explosive and fragmentation warheads.
“It can be used to conduct counter-attack operations against the enemy’s command posts, bunkers and airport runways,” the source said.
A previous report from the ministry to the Legislative Yuan also said that the Hsiung Sheng shares a production line with the surface-to-air variants of the Hsiung Feng IIE.
Although the military has not announced expected production capacity, a new missile production plant at the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology would likely allow more than 130 of the new missiles to be produced annually, the source said.
“When deployed alongside existing sea and air defense missile systems, the extended-range missile would improve overall combat readiness significantly,” the source said.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS