Sky Spear
Taiwanese SRBM derived from the Sky Bow II SAM.
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The Sky Spear, also called Tien Chi, is a Taiwanese short-range ballistic missile built by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology. It was adapted from the Sky Bow II surface-to-air missile, adding a second booster stage. By early 2001, around 50 of these missiles were stationed at two sites, one on Tungyin Island and another undisclosed location. On Tungyin, the missiles are reportedly kept in silos and guarded by Sky Bow II batteries.
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.
Did You Know?
- The Sky Spear has a two-stage booster, extending over the single-stage Tien Kung-2 SAM from which it is derived.
- The missile's 300 km range exceeds the Tien Kung II SAM's 200 km maximum because its surface-to-surface trajectory is more efficient.
- Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian was reportedly very surprised by how large the missiles were when he went to inspect them.
More in National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Sky Spear (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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