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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Taiwans Secret Missiles |
| 2005-05-13 |
| May 13, 2005: Taiwan will begin mass production of its new Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile next year. The project has been kept secret, or as secret as possible, but details have leaked out. The Hsiung Feng III is apparently a one ton missile, with a range of 300 kilometers and a top speed about 2,200 kilometers an hour. Low flying and using a highly effective guidance and targeting system, the missile is meant to take out Chinese warships and transports while they are still far from Taiwan. The Hsiung Feng missiles are based on the American Harpoon design, but have been expanded considerably since the Hsiung Feng I. The missiles can also hit land targets, but until the latest version, this was not very practical because of the short range of the missiles. There is believed to be a slower, but longer range Hsiung Feng (the IIE), with a range of 500 kilometers, and cluster bomb warheads for destroying military targets on land. The Hsiung Feng III can also be launched from land, and mobile launchers for these missiles may end up being added to Taiwan's defenses. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #14 Tak Tochno Exactly so. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-05-13 21:31 |
| #13 You mean 1996-redux? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-05-13 21:26 |
| #12 The best war strategy for the Chinese will be to bankroll a US leftist government in the US in 2008. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-05-13 16:04 |
| #11 The real strategic weapon they should have is one with which they can blockade Chinese ports, particularly Shanghai and Hong Kong/Canton. China's best strategy vs Taiwan is the threat of a blockade, not an invasion, and Taiwans best counter is a counter-blockade. This missile does not seem to have sufficient range for that, something on the order of 1000 km would be needed. Submarines would be the best weapon for this purpose. |
| Posted by: buwaya 2005-05-13 15:22 |
| #10 Personally I'm hoping they are holding back some (Three Gorges) dam busting missiles, to be unveiled the moment China starts to look serious about giving it a go. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2005-05-13 1:34:42 PM |
| #9 I was telling you guys a while back that the Taiwanese have stuff they are holding back on in terms of publicity, but are manufacturing in numbers enough to be effective. And its sophisticated stuff too. They have great engineers over there, and a ton of chip-fab capacity. And they are very aware of the threat posed by mainland China. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2005-05-13 13:08 |
| #8 Hopefully they're not averse to licensing that missile's design to us. |
| Posted by: Mike 2005-05-13 12:01 |
| #7 A good option for Taiwan might be to create a new class of missile, SCUD-sized, that delivers just-below-surface floating cluster munitions out to sea. The bomblets would need to be just large enough to open a canteloupe-sized hole in a hull. Then sink harmlessly after 96 hours if they don't go off. One such missile could probably deliver 750-1000 such munitions, covering several square miles of ocean. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-05-13 10:23 |
| #6 Interesting... it has a longer range than the standard Harpoon, and has a speed about twice as fast. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-05-13 10:22 |
| #5 Last I read China had about 200 batteries of ground attack missiles, based near the sea. These would undoubtedly be the first Chinese targets to go. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-05-13 10:20 |
| #4 Take them out at the docks. The range should be about right. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2005-05-13 10:13 |
| #3 Hmmm... 5-6 years ago a company I worked for sent quite a bit of electronic testing equipment to Tiawan. The engineer said it was for testing missles, big missles. I at first thought it was the anti-aircraft ones, but know I'm not so sure. Go Tiawan! |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-05-13 10:05 |
| #2 "these missiles will fail against our mighty |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-13 09:32 |
| #1 The only way the Reds will land on Taiwan will be as tourists. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2005-05-13 09:12 |