The Sky Spear (天戟 ''Tien Chi'') is a Taiwanese
short-range ballistic missile
A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range of to . In past and potential regional conflicts, these missiles have been and would be used because of the short distances between some countries and their relative low c ...
(SRBM).
[Minnick, Wendell]
A better indigenous missile defense
''Taipei Times
The ''Taipei Times'' is an English-language print newspaper in Taiwan published by the Liberty Times Group. Founded as the third English-language newspaper on 15 June 1999, it is currently the last surviving English-language print newspaper i ...
'', July 13, 2001. Derived from the
Sky Bow II (
Tien Kung-2)
surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...
, the Tien Chi has a two-stage booster that extends over the single-stage
Tien Kung-2. The Sky Spear was developed by the
Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology
National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST; ) is a Taiwanese state owned corporation, formerly part of the Ministry of National Defense's Armaments Bureau, which is active in the development, manufacturing, support, and su ...
(CSIST) in Taiwan. As of early 2001, up to 50 Tien Chi missiles were deployed at two sites:
Tungyin Island, and an unidentified second location. The Tungyin Island missiles are said to be housed in silos and protected by batteries of
Tien Kung-2 SAMs.
Description
Information provided by CSIST to Jane's Missiles and Rockets, revealed that Tien Chi uses a submunition warhead and there is no unitary warhead for this missile. According to this report, Tien Chi was developed by CSIST following test firings of a Tien Kung 2 variant with a 120 km range and a 90 kg HE warhead. The report also credited Tien Chi missile with a range of 300 km and a 500 kg payload. This range is well beyond the reported 200 km maximum range of the Tien Kung II SAM system, but since Tien Chi is used in a tactical surface-to-surface missile role, it would fly a more efficient trajectory with no need for energy-consuming manoeuvres. Guidance is believed to be an integrated INS/GPS system.
History
It has been reported that Taiwan has deployed 15-50 missiles on
Tungyin and
Penghu
The Penghu ( , Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, about west of the main island of Taiwan across the Penghu Ch ...
.
Variants
According to the
Taipei Times
The ''Taipei Times'' is an English-language print newspaper in Taiwan published by the Liberty Times Group. Founded as the third English-language newspaper on 15 June 1999, it is currently the last surviving English-language print newspaper i ...
retired president of NCSIST Kung Chia-cheng claimed that two variants were developed, one with a range of 600km and the other with a 1000km+ range. Taiwanese President
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...
was reportedly very surprised by how large the missiles were when he went to inspect them.
General characteristics
* Primary Function:
Surface-to-surface missile
A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed installations, or from a ship. They ar ...
* Warhead Weight 100 kg
See also
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References
{{National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) aircraft
Short-range ballistic missiles
Ballistic missiles of Taiwan
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2001
NCSIST missiles