A new anti-ship cruise missile that China has reportedly test-fired recently has yet to become a real threat to Taiwan, despite claims that it has a range of 250km, defense sources said yesterday.
The missile is called the C-803, or YJ-83, and is the latest variant of the C-801 anti-ship missile.
There has been much speculation about the missile's capabilities since two years ago when the missile was introduced to the public for the first time -- in the form of a scale model at an air show in China.
The Washington Times reported on Wednesday that a Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber had test-fired a C-803 early this month over the Bohai Sea and the test showed that the missile has a much greater range than initially expected.
The test showed the weapon can reach targets as far as 250km away, rather than the initially speculated 170km, the report said.
It outranges any weapons system that the Kidd-class destroyers which Taiwan wants to buy from the US can carry, the paper said. The longest-range weapon on board the Kidd is the Standard SM-2 missile, with a maximum range of 153km.
This means a Chinese fighter-bomber can fire a C-803 against a Kidd within the missile's effective range without having to worry about being shot down by the Kidds' SM-2.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) declined to confirm the report, but emphasized the military knows very well what the PLA is doing.
A defense official, who commented in private, said the C-803 cannot be a real threat to Taiwan anytime soon.
"The C-803 can attack targets on both sea and land. It can be very effective against floating targets but not so much against land targets. It lacks the ability to redirect its flight route if it misses the target on its first try," the official said.
"We have been watching the development of the C-803 over the past few years. We do not think it is a mature and technically advanced weapons system," he said.
"As far as we know, the C-803 had been test-fired several times last year. Because we did not say anything about it does not mean we did not know," he said.
"We are not worried about the C-803. What really gets on our nerves is that China plans to deploy a longer-range ballistic missile, longer in range than the M-9 and the M-11, against Taiwan," he said.
"The Chinese military had last year also successfully test-fired a ballistic missile armed with a warhead that is nothing less than a fuel-air bomb. That's a real threat."
Chang Li-teh (張立德), a senior editor with the Defense Technology Monthly magazine, agreed that there is no need to fuss about the C-803. "It is not difficult to make a missile fly a long distance. What matters is whether the missile can hit the target accurately," Chang said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS