Taiwan’s Ching Tien I (擎天) supersonic cruise missiles have completed their production run and entered service, the non-classified portion of the proposed military budget for next year shows, indirectly confirming the existence of a system that has long been the subject of speculation.
The Ministry of National Defense’s budget proposal submitted to the legislature this week included a curious item called “Fei Chi II (飛戟) weapons system and equipment maintenance program,” which is to be implemented from next year through 2031.
Chinese-language media have labeled the budget’s reference to the Fei Chi II system as an “official leak” connected to the Ching Tien II hypersonic missile, which implicitly acknowledged the existence and operational status of Ching Tien I missiles.
The declassification of the Ching Tien family of missiles signals that the military has moved to publicly acknowledging possessing a strike capability, a measure likely motivated by a desire to enhance deterrence.
Following the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, Taiwan began to secretly work on the Yun Feng (雲峰) medium-range supersonic cruise missile, concealing budgets and test flights inside the Hsiung Feng III program, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said.
The Chinese-language China Times reported that the Yun Feng program was cut short in 2014, resulting in a limited production run of 10 launch systems equipped with 15 to 20 missiles each, with a total production target of 500 missiles.
The design of the terminated missile served as the basis for Ching Tien I, a supersonic cruise missile whose existence has never been officially acknowledged, the broadsheet said.
The development of a successor to the Ching Tien I system was apparently conducted under the codename Fei Chi II, the spending item appearing in the defense ministry’s budget, it said.
The Ching Tien I reportedly uses a ramjet motor, with a top speed of Mach 3 (about 3,700kph) and an effective range of 1,200km to 1,500km, enough to hit the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) “second echelon” bases in eastern and central China.
Owing to design limitations and the rocket’s ponderous size, the Ching Tien I mostly relies on silos or mountain missile installations as launch facilities, whose visibility to satellite surveillance limits the system’s survivability.
The Ching Tien II, developed to improve upon its predecessor’s capabilities, is said to use a scramjet engine, with a top speed of Mach 5 and an effective range of more than 2,000km. These parameters suggest the missile can strike targets in China’s hinterland, including Beijing and Wuhan.
The Ching Tien II is designed to be launched from a mobile vehicle, and the ministry is currently considering a European-made 12x12 military utility truck to serve as the launch platform, a source said on condition of anonymity.
Truck-mounted Ching Tien II systems can use highways and heavy-duty forest roads to relocate after firing, allowing them to evade enemy detection and targeting, sources said.
A railroad-based launch platform is also being explored, they added.
The Ching Tien II’s deep-strike capability and mobility make them a highly valuable asymmetric warfare asset for deterring China from attacking Taiwan, they said.
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