UAV, Taiwan-made missiles to be shown in Oct. 10 parade

He told a Legislative Yuan defense committee that the Tien Kung-3 ATBM (Anti-Tactical Ballistic Missile) and Hsiung Feng-3 supersonic surface-to-surface missile will be marched past the Office of the President tomorrow.

To be displayed together with the two new defensive weapons is the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), Lee said in answer to an interpellation by Kuomintang lawmaker Lin Yu-fang.

The UAV is an aircraft for aerial reconnaissance for ground forces.

All of them are making their public debut, General Lee stressed.

But Lee said another new ground-to-air missile, dubbed Hsiung Feng-2E, is unlikely to be seen in the parade that will march past President Chen Shui-bian.

“After two dress rehearsals on Wednesday and Friday,” General Lee said, “we found there is enough room to display the missiles and the UAV. The Hsiung Feng-2E, which is still in the last stage of development, may not be shown.”

It took seven years and NT$19 billion to develop the Tien Kung-3 ATBM, a near equivalent to the U.S. Patriot II surface-to-air missile. Production of the Hsiung Feng-3 started this year.

A Cheng Kung class frigate can be armed with the Hsiung Feng-3, which is a Mach 2 missile to attack surface targets. With a range of 100 kilometers, it hurtles over the air at twice the speed of the sound.

The Hsiung Feng-2E may be deployed at missile bases on the offshore islands of Matsu, sources close to the Ministry of National Defense said. “It may reach as far as Shanghai,” one source pointed out.

Missile bases at Tamsui, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Tungyin Island, and the Pescadores may house Hsiung Feng-3s, sources said.

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