The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has provided a timetable for its long-range missile programs in a report to the Legislative Yuan following the passage of a NT$237 billion (US$8.45 billion) budget in January.
The report follows a request by lawmakers for a timetable on implementing the Sea-Air Combat Power Improvement Plan, a five-year program that started earlier this year, a source said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
The Hsiung Feng III, a supersonic missile that can attack ships and ground-based targets up to a range of 400km, is to enter mass production next year, which would raise its annual capacity to 70 units from 20 now, the source said, citing the report.
Photo copied by Chen Hsien-yi, Taipei Times
The increase follows the construction of six new facilities, which the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is to complete in late June, the report said.
The Hsiung Sheng cruise missile, with an estimated range of 1,000km to 1,200km — enough to reach China — has been confirmed to be the same system formerly known as the Hsiung Feng IIE missile, the source said.
The combined annual production capacity of Hsiung Sheng and Hsiung Feng II missiles — which share assembly lines — would rise to 131 units from 81 units, the report said.
Basic and extended-range Hsiung Feng missiles are being deployed on Taiwan proper and outlying islands as a defense against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s large warships, it added.
The Hai Chien II surface-to-air missile — which can be launched from the ground or a ship — would see its annual production rise to 150 units from 40 units, the report said.
The annual production capacity of Tien Kung III air defense missiles would also increase to 96 units from 48, while the Wan Chien air-to-ground cruise missiles and the Chien Hsiang loitering munition would reach 50 units and 48 units respectively, it said.
This should result in production of the Hsiung Sheng missile, the Wan Chien missile and the Chien Hsiang loitering munition being completed in 2024 or 2025, ahead of schedule, the report said.
The combat power improvement plan was intended for the acquisition of long-range cruise missiles, upgraded air defense systems and modern warships, government statements said at the time.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
RSS