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| Hsiung-Feng III (HF-III) anti-ship missile |
By: Mike Yeo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Taiwan is reportedly pushing ahead with plans to upgrade its indigenous anti-ship and air-to-air missile arsenal, while the development status of its land attack cruise missiles remains uncertain.
Media reports in Taiwan say the island's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, or NCSIST, is currently working to improve the range, guidance systems and electronic counter-countermeasures of the Hsiung-Feng (Brave Wind) series of anti-ship missiles, the Tien Kung (Sky Bow) surface-to-air missile and the Tien Chien (Sky Sword) II air-to-air missile. No timelines or specific details have been given for the various programs.
The reports say NCSIST has successfully increased the range of the subsonic Hsiung-Feng II and ramjet-powered Hsiung-Feng III anti-ship missiles to 156 and 250 miles respectively. Both types of missiles are deployed by the Taiwanese armed forces in the road mobile and shipboard versions.
The HF-3 is an inertial navigation system-guided missile with terminal active radar homing. It uses a 500-pound explosively-formed projectile fragmentation warhead and is reportedly equipped with a smart fuse designed to direct most of the explosive energy downward once it has detected that the missile is inside the target ship's hull.
In the event of a cross-strait conflict with China, the HF-3 will be Taiwan’s most advanced anti-ship missile to be fielded against the rapidly modernizing People’s Liberation Army Navy and will almost certainly be used to target the PLAN’s high-value warships, such as its aircraft carriers and Type 055 cruisers.
Read the full story at DefenseNews