ROCAF F-CK-1A 1418 Display at Ching Chuang Kang Air Force Base Apron 20161126a

The Sky Sword II ( zh, t=天劍二, Tien Chien II), or TC-2, is a Taiwanese medium-range, hypersonic, radar guided air-to-air missile. It has an inertial navigation system, a data-link for mid-course guidance and active radar homing for terminal guidance, beyond visual range. It also has ECCM capability and can engage multiple targets. According to Su Tzu-yun, chief executive officer at the Center for Advanced Technology at

Tamkang University Tamkang University (TKU; ) is a private university in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It was founded in 1950 as a junior college of English literature. Today it is a comprehensive university with 11 colleges that serves nearly 25,000 ...

, they are a cost-effective design which can perform a key role in Taiwan's defense strategy, and substantially offset China's air superiority. Some details of its design were revealed for the first time at the

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (french: Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. Organized by the French ...

in 2015. The

pulse doppler radar A pulse-Doppler radar is a radar system that determines the range to a target using pulse-timing techniques, and uses the Doppler effect of the returned signal to determine the target object's velocity. It combines the features of pulse radars an ...

seeker reportedly has a detection range of .

Development

Development of the Sky Sword II family began during the 1990s.

Service history

In 2017 a Sky Sword II launched by a F-CK-1 during a training exercise failed to ignite and fell into the sea. In 2019 TC-2 was among 117 missiles fired during a training exercise off Taiwan's west coast.

Variants

TC-2N

A ship-launched, surface-to-air version was later developed and designated TC-2N. It began development in 1994, and a ground-based test was first carried out against a low-flying drone in 1997. This development was revealed to the public in 2005 and the intention to make it compatible with vertical launch methods was later announced in 2006. The first ship-based launch was held in mid 2014. In the naval role the TC-2N fills an air defense gap between the

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the Gen ...

and SM-2 systems with a range of . The missile has all-weather capability, is equipped with a thrust-vectoring booster to increase its range as well as maneuverability during launch phase (although early ship-based launch trials were carried out without this feature), and can engage anti-ship missiles and aircraft. It also has folding control surfaces to be quad-packed into either above-deck oblique launchers or in-deck vertical launch systems. By May 2021 the TC-2N had passed its live fire trials and operational evaluations. Final evaluation was conducted aboard the

Tuo Chiang-class corvette The ''Tuo Chiang''-class corvette () is a Taiwanese-designed class of fast (up to ) and stealthy multi-mission corvettes built for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy. It is designed to counter the numerous and increasingly sophisticated ...

''Ta Chiang''.

''Ta Chiang(PGG-619)'' are equipped to carry up to 16 TC-2N.

Yushan-class landing platform dock The ''Yushan''-class landing platform dock () is a class of landing platform dock built by CSBC Corporation, Taiwan for the Republic of China Navy (ROCN). Four ships are planned, with one ship launched in April 2021. Description ''Yushan''-class ...

are equipped to carry up to 32 TC-2N.

TC-2A

TC-2A is an

anti-radiation missile An anti-radiation missile (ARM) is a missile designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source. Typically, these are designed for use against an enemy radar, although jammers and even radios used for communications can also be ...

, similar to the

AGM-88 HARM The AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) is a tactical, air-to-surface missile, air-to-surface anti-radiation missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed ...

. The TC-2A program began soon after the completion of the TC-2. It fills the requirement of the ROCAF for an Anti-Radiation Missile to arm the F-CK-1. It is reported to be long, in diameter, weighs (warhead weighs ), and with a range of . The passive radar seeker on the TC-2A has been reported as having a detection range of .

TC-2C

TC-2C is an advanced air-to-air version first tested in 2017 and intended to replace the standard TC-2. It features a number of incremental improvements including an improved rocket motor which allows an engagement range of . Maximum speed is in the Mach 6 range. In 2021 it was announced that an extended range version of the TC-2 had been ordered by the Air Force with 250-300 ordered from NCSIST at a unit cost of NT$30 million (US$1.07 million).

Surface-to-Air TC-2

The land based version of the TC-2N features the missile packaged in a sealed container-launcher. NCSIST has exhibited a truck mounted version with four missile pods. The TC-2 air-defense system was exhibited at

International Defence Exhibition The International Defence Exhibition & Conference, or IDEX, is a biennial arms and defence technology sales exhibition. The exhibition is the largest defence exhibition and conference in the Middle East and takes place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Em ...

in Abu Dhabi with a reported canister length of and an all up weight (combined canister and round) of . It reportedly retains the midcourse inertial guidance with data link and terminal active radar guidance schemes, as well as an electronic counter-countermeasure (ECCM) capability. Because it lacks the naval version's booster, however, its effective range is reportedly only . Six batteries with 246 missiles were ordered in 2019. A TC-2 battery participated in the 2021

Double Ten Day The National Day of the Republic of China ( zh, 中華民國的國慶日) or the Taiwan National Day, also referred to as Double Ten Day or Double Tenth Day, is a public holiday on 10 October, now held annually in Taiwan (officially the Republi ...

parade.

References

External links

TC-2 info on Global Security
* TC-2N test vide

{{National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) aircraft Anti-radiation missiles Air-to-air missiles of the Republic of China Surface-to-air missiles of the Republic of China 20th-century surface-to-air missiles Military equipment introduced in the 1990s