The Sky Spear (天戟 ''Tien Chi'') is a Taiwanese short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) capable of striking targets on mainland

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

.Minnick, Wendell
A better indigenous missile defense
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Taipei Times The ''Taipei Times'' is the only printed daily English-language newspaper in Taiwan, and the third established there. Online competitors include the state-owned ''Focus Taiwan'' and ''Taiwan News''; ''The China Post'' was formerly a competit ...

'', July 13, 2001. Derived from the

Sky Bow II The Sky Bow, or Tien Kung (), are a series of surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile and anti-aircraft defense systems developed by Taiwan. The TK-2 and TK-3 are in service with the Military of the Republic of China. Development The development of ...

(

Tien Kung-2 The Sky Bow, or Tien Kung (), are a series of surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile and anti-aircraft defense systems developed by Taiwan. The TK-2 and TK-3 are in service with the Military of the Republic of China. Development The development of ...

) surface-to-air missile, the Tien Chi has a two-stage booster that extends over the single-stage

. The Sky Spear was developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (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

SAMs. 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. It has been reported that Taiwan has deployed 15-50 missiles on Tungyin and

Penghu The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...

General characteristics

* Primary Function: Surface-to-surface missile * Warhead Weight 100 kg

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

General characteristics

See also

References