Mechanical problems and human error were behind another less-than-stellar air defense missile test on Monday, on the heels of an equally unsatisfactory major missile exercise earlier this year.
Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) said mechanical problem and operational shortcomings were responsible for the poor performance of Monday’s missile tests, adding that the military would continue to investigate the causes of the malfunctions.
Missile performance is “unstable,” Kao told reporters in the legislature yesterday.
The missile exercise was held at the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s (CSIST) Jiupeng testing base in Pingtung County, the same location as the missile test on Jan. 18, in which six of the 19 missiles fired encountered technical problems.
Following January’s exercise, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was present at the drill, said he was “not happy” with the results and that he hoped the military would determine the reasons and improve its training.
News of the latest failure was first made public by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌). Soon afterwards, the military confirmed the failure.
One locally made Tien Chien II “Sky Sword” (TC-II) fired from a Ching Kuo Indigenous Defense Fighter, one US-made AIM-7 “Sparrow” fired from an F-16A/B, one French-made MICA fired from a Mirage 2000 and one -surface-to-air “Sparrow” were used in the exercise, the Air Force said.
The TC-II and AIM-7 hit their targets, while the MICA and surface-to-air “Sparrow” missed, it said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) said the military had failed to improve its performance, adding this was a serious warning to the Air Force and the public could lose confidence in the nation’s air defense capabilities.
The latest failure comes in the wake on an announcement by the National Security Bureau (NSB) that China was continuing to modernize the very ballistic missile capabilities against which the missiles tested on Monday and in January are deployed.
NSB Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) told the legislature last week that China had begun deploying longer-range Dong Feng-16 (DF-16) ballistic missiles and that older short-range ballistic missiles, such as the DF-11 and DF-15, were now equipped with multiple warheads, which would add a substantial burden to Taiwan’s air defense systems.
Although the deployment of the DF-16 has yet to be confirmed by allied intelligence, a number of defense experts have said their existence was not in doubt, given that the DF-11s and DF-16s, developed in the 1980s and fielded in the 1990s, were due for an overhaul.
Meanwhile, Kao said the military would improve the training and equipment of its chemical warfare corps amid efforts to strengthen its ability to cope with nuclear disasters, adding that it might reconsider a plan announced earlier this week to downsize its chemical warfare corps by as much as 30 percent from about 3,000 personnel.
Additional reporting by J. Michael Cole and CNA
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS