Former Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) president Kung Chia-cheng (龔家政) made known some behind-the-scenes details of the nation’s missile development in a memoir published by Academia Sinica’s Institute of Modern History last month.
Speaking about the supersonic cruise missile developed by the Yun Feng (雲峰, Cloud Peak) project, Kung said the missile could exceed Mach 3 and had excellent penetration, as it comes down on its target vertically.
The missile’s speed ensures that it is not easily intercepted, and at the time of the missile’s development, under former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), only the US and Russia were developing similar kinds of missiles, Kung said.
Photo: screen grab from CSIS Web site
The Ministry of National Defense had nearly axed the project as it thought the missile would have a high possibility of failing its trial launch, he said.
Fortunately, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had conducted an inspection of CSIST during his presidency, and the institute briefed the president and received support to continue the project, he added.
Nearly 400 CSIST members worked on a secret project to develop ballistic missile capabilities under the overarching “Tien Kung” project. It was the first time that Taiwan developed a missile that was 1m in diameter and 10m in height, Kung said, adding that Chen was impressed when he inspected the missile at Pingtung County’s Jiupengwan (九鵬灣) missile test base.
The American Institute in Taiwan met with Chen soon after the trial launch of the missile, he said, adding that the institute issued a memorandum of understanding stating that we “were not allowed to have carried out the trial launch.”
Kung said that even if the project had been successful, it would simply have been a demonstration that the CSIST could make ballistic missiles, and it would have taken more trials for the project to produce combat-ready weapons.
Kung also spoke about the Hsiung Feng II-E missile, which has two variants: type A, which has a range of 500km, and type B, which has a range of 1,000km.
Officials had been pleased with the successful results of the Hsiung Feng II-E type B simulation, he said.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
RSS