Seeing what happened in the Ukrainian War, Taiwan has been preparing for an escalation if it has to go to war with China. And learning from what surfaced in Ukraine, Taipei has allocated a large portion of the budget for the development and production of kamikaze drones (loitering munitions), especially those targeting strategic radar installation targets on the coasts of mainland China.
Quoted from taiwannews.com.tw (22/11/2022), the Government of Taiwan has announced the manufacture of truck-launched kamikaze drones in 2025. Collaborating with the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), the Taiwanese military will obtain supplies 104 units of kamikaze drones by 2025.
NCSIST official Chi Li-ping mentioned that production and delivery of the drone will be on schedule. NCSIST first introduced the Chien Hsiang anti-radiation drone prototype in 2017. Interestingly, the design of this Taiwan-made drone is similar to Israel Aerospace Industries' Harpy anti-radiation drone.
In 2019, Taiwan's military revealed its plans to invest US$2.57 billion in drone development over a five-year period. The military has also revealed that the cost of building an anti-radiation drone will be cheaper than the cost required to produce the TC-2A anti-radiation missile, or the US-made AGM-88A/B HARM anti-radiation missile.
The truck-launched drones are designed to detect enemy radar systems through their electromagnetic emissions. Chien Hsiang's anti-radiation kamikaze drone has a maximum flight time of over five hours, and is capable of striking targets as far as 1,000 km. In terms of range, this drone is capable of targeting Chinese radar systems at sea, on the coast, and even inland.
Chien Hsiang's kamikaze drone weighs about 6 kg and is 1.2 meters long, and has a wingspan of 2 meters. This drone scouts targets with electro-optical or infrared payloads and selects them with the help of an intelligence object detection system.
According to reports, the drone has a cruising speed of 185 km per hour, and will hover over the target before diving towards the target at 600 km per hour to crash into it. In order to give maximum destruction effect, Chien Hsiang will later be prepared to attack in 1 group (swarming) with 12 drones.
The drone launcher truck with a special compartment carries 12 units of Chien Hsiang. Vehicle deployment, launch and handling are all claimed to be completed in a short time, increasing the operational flexibility and survivability of the weapon system.
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