Taiwan plans to build 500 cruise missiles

F

FreeAsia2000

Junior Member
This should make a HUGE difference. 500 precision guided missiles should delay any attack in time for the US to move forces into postion

Intelligence and Terrorism News

Taiwan plans to build 500 cruise missiles
By Martin Sieff Jan 12, 2006, 8:44 GMT
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The ballistic missile strategic balance between Mainland China and Taiwan has just received a new complication: A report from a highly-respected British journal states that the offshore island of 25 million people has already home-produced three prototypes of its own cruise missile capable of striking China`s nearby eastern coast.

Taiwan has ambitious plans for the missile, called the Hsiung Feng 2E , or Brave Wind, Jane`s Defence Weekly reported in its latest issue published Wednesday: It intends to produce at least 50 of them by 2010 and in all, eventually plans to produce and deploy 500 of them.

If these plans come to fruition, relatively small Taiwan could come close to developing a strategic equalizer with giant Mainland China of 1.3 billion people. China has slowly but steadily built up a huge force of around 700 ground-launched ballistic missiles with the apparent strategic goal of eventually threatening Taiwan into compliance and preventing it eventually declaring full, legal independence from the mainland. The Chinese missile build-up also appears aimed at preventing U.S. air and naval forces, especially nuclear-powered aircraft carrier battle groups, from operating in the Taiwan Strait to defend Taiwan. Most of it has been carried out since the Clinton administration deployed nuclear carrier battle groups in the strait in July 1995

The new Hsiung Feng missiles will also be mobile, JDW said. Therefore they will not be vulnerable to any preemptive strike from the mainland. The publication said they would have a range of around 360 miles, allowing them to threaten Hong Kong to the south and Shanghai, China`s main business and financial center, to the north.

The Taiwan defence ministry declined to comment on the report, Jane`s said.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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A

adeptitus

Captain
VIP Professional
I think the Janes article has too much speculation. But from past military orders vs. actual numbers delivered, if the ROC military ask for 500, I think they'd end up with fewer. So if they really wanted 200 missiles, it'd be a smart move to ask for 500. hehehe.

The warhead on the HF-2E missile is only 200kg, so unless if it has precision guidance and used on high-valued targets, it won't be very effective. It does, however, enable the ROC to strike back at PRC land targets.
 
PiSigma

PiSigma

"the engineer"
360 miles is not enough to hit shanghai, shanghai is 420 miles from taipei, and hong kong is 480 miles from taipei... good luck hitting them. fuzhou and xiamen are pretty much the only major cities that's close enough to taiwan to be hit.
 
utelore

utelore

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I believe the ROC could hit all major cities in china. I think given there Hi-tech ability along with a defence industry that produces fighter jets and cruise missile there is no reason why the ROC does not have somthing sitting in its basement in secret that could be used in time of war to make a symbolic attack even on the PRC capital.
 
tphuang

tphuang

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utelore said:
I believe the ROC could hit all major cities in china. I think given there Hi-tech ability along with a defence industry that produces fighter jets and cruise missile there is no reason why the ROC does not have somthing sitting in its basement in secret that could be used in time of war to make a symbolic attack even on the PRC capital.
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ROC and secrecy? You are kidding me, right?

Seriously though, I do think ROC will have ballistic or cruise missile capable of hitting shanghai and Hongkong soon. That's why China has so many SAMs in these areas.
 
crazyinsane105

crazyinsane105

Junior Member
VIP Professional
The ROC has secrecy? Since when? Chinese intelligence have heavily penetrated many aspects of ROC's defense industry (also helps since half of Taiwan's population wants to reunite with China). So there is actual secret that the ROC has.
 
A

ahho

Junior Member
the question is why would ROC want to hit hong kong or even shang hai??? That would really heard it's image and the world would probably condemned the act. Unless it is hitting military targets.
 
U

USAhater

Banned Idiot
I think this is to be used as defence. There is no way Taiwan can attack China and still live. I don't even think they will fight, they will unite eventually without violence. Like Germany.

If Taiwan does attack China, it'll be a crater.
 
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