Taiwan is developing a hypersonic missile based on the Ching Tien (擎天) supersonic cruise missile, and a Czech-made truck has been tentatively selected as its launch vehicle, a source said yesterday.
The Ching Tien, formerly known as Yun Feng (雲峰, “Cloud Peak”), is a domestically developed missile with a range of 1,200km to 2,000km being deployed in casemate-type positions as of last month, an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The hypersonic missile to be derived from the Ching Tien would feature improved range and a mobile launch platform, while the latter would most likely be a 12x12 single chassis truck designed by the Czech company Tatra, they said.
Photo: EPA-EFE / the Ministry of National Defense
The Oshkosh M983 is another vehicle being considered for the missile, they said.
The military and the Ministry of National Defense-affiliated Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the missile’s designer, are reaching out to manufacturers about potentially buying tactical trucks, the official said.
The hypersonic cruise missile would significantly boost the military’s deep strike capabilities, and using a mobile launch platform would make the system more survivable in combat, they said.
The military additionally seeks to obtain an 8x8 single-chassis vehicle to serve as a test launch vehicle for the hypersonic missile and potentially a replacement for the existing fleet of Taiwanese launch vehicles, they said.
The existing mobile launch platforms for domestically developed missiles are semitrucks that are more difficult to handle and time-consuming to deploy into position compared with single-chassis designs being used in Western militaries, they said.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of National Defense published a solicitation for the development of heat-resistant ceramic materials and high-performance rocket engines in a first hint of a hypersonic missile program.
Aerospace researcher and Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology adviser Su Yu-pen (蘇玉本) said at the time that Taiwan has the technological wherewithal to create a hypersonic weapon if composite materials could be designed for use in rocket engines.
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