Surface Forces: Taiwan All Goes Supersonic

Taiwan is Equipping of 16 frigates icts icts with supersonic Hsiung Feng 3 anti-ship missile. Already HAS Taiwan army oven destroyers, 12 corvettes and patrol boats with 31 this missile. The Hsiung Feng 3 missiles will now replace subsonic on eight Perry class frigates and six Lafayette class as well as two more Perrys coming from the United States.

The 6.1 meter (19 foot) long Hsiung-feng 3 Weighs 1.5 tons, HAS 181 kg (400 pound) warhead and a top speed of 2.300 kilometers year hour. Max ranks is 300 kilometers. It uses GPS and inertial guidance to get to the general vicinity of the target, then several other sensors to lock on to a specific ship and hit it.The smaller Hsiung-feng 2 has a ranks of 160 kilometers and less extensive electronics.

Economic development of Taiwan tend to icts new weapons quietly and then suddenly reveal em. The Hsiung Feng 3, for example, Began suddenly showing up in military parades, with little official how, several years ago. One reason for keeping quiet about new weapons is That It keeps the press away from embarrassing development problems. Were there some additional Difficulties with the Hsiung-feng 3, it Effective Went into production. The worst of thesis Had to do with the very high speeds and damage That Caused this to some components. It's Believed aussi que la max ranks was only 150 kilometers to Reduced for a period of time Because of teething problems.

The Hsiung-feng 3 aussi Being installed on a new 500 ton class of stealth corvettes. Thesis for the ships designers are Being Asked to get as Many of the large (for a 500 ton ship) Hsiung-feng 3s on it as possible (up to eight). In addition there will be eight of the smaller Hsiung-feng 2. These new corvettes are the continuation of a trend in the Taiwanese Navy, Which Sees small ships carrying a lot of anti-ship missiles as the key to success against the Chinese navy.

Already HAS Taiwan number of sub-sonic cruise missiles. The Hsiung Feng 2E is a 6.1 meter (19 foot long) cruise missile That Weighs a ton, HAS a204 kg (450 pound) warhead and a top speed of 800 kilometers year hour. Max ranks is 600 kilometers. It uses GPS and inertial guidance. The Hsiung Feng 2E was Developed from the Hsiung Feng 2 anti-ship missile. This was a smaller weapon (.685 ton), with a ranks of 160 kilometers. It Entered Service in the early 1990s, and by the late 1990s, developers Were working on turning it into a cruise missile. The Hsiung Feng 2E can be Launched from ships or from land and can Threaten targets several hundred Chinese kilometers inland.

Two years ago some of Taiwan Admitted That Were Already Their warships equipped with the Hsiung Feng 3. This weapon was in development for over a decade, and it was rumored That Began producing four years ago. Some 300 of These missiles are Believed to be in service (aboard ships or in land based launchers).