Taiwan tests the Hiung Feng 2E cruise missile for the first time, the weapon of the counterattack on China
The Taiwanese military tested a ground-based cruise missile on Wednesday, local media reported.
The Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) has reportedly been in service for over a decade but has never been publicly seen or officially tested. The weapon is strategic in Taiwan's defense system to the point of keeping it, at least until now, totally secret.
The Taiwanese Air Force tested the missile at Jiupeng military base in Pingtung, United Daily News reported.
The Taiwanese outlet provided video and screenshots of the launch to back up its claim.
The missile flew for over an hour and the test achieved all of its objectives, according to news sources.
No official confirmation
Citing a source, Taiwan's semi-official Central News Agency acknowledged Wednesday the test firing of a "classified" missile, without confirming whether it was the HF-2E.
The launch was part of a three-day live-fire exercise involving fighter jets firing air-to-air missiles. A scholar at the government-funded Institute for Defense and Homeland Security Research said, after seen the video, that the missile was indeed the HF-2E.
Su Tzu-Yun told the Central News Agency that he based his opinion on the fact that the missile had a two-stage ignition and flew for over an hour.
Go public in 2022
The Taiwanese military began developing the missile in the early 2000s with expected characteristics similar to those of the US Tomahawk.
The missile's existence became public in a report sent to lawmakers in March 2022, according to the Central News Agency.
The report revealed that the territory would be able to produce 131 HF-2 and HF-2E (extended range) per year after expanding its production capacity in 2024.
Counterattack and deterrent weapon
The missile is a counterattack weapon capable of striking mainland China in two flavors: basic range and extended range.
The basic version has a reported range of 300 to 600 kilometers, while the extended range can hit targets from 1,000 to 1,500 kilometers away. This would allow Taiwan to strike well into mainland China, reaching as far as core industrial regions, such as Wuhan.
Its warheads reportedly include 450 and 250 kg high explosives capable of penetrating armored targets, such as bunkers and command centers.
The HF-2E reportedly uses GPS-assisted inertial navigation system guidance and terrain contouring capability.
The latter helps improve his navigational accuracy and allows him to fly low to evade enemy defenses.
This weapon is for counterattack and deterrence: in the event of a Chinese attack, Taiwan would unleash a retaliation, presumably with a few hundred missiles at its disposal, capable of reaching the strategic commands of the Chinese armed forces and military installations, as well as strategically relevant infrastructures. such as, for example, hydroelectric dams. Potentially the destruction would be considerable, even without the use of nuclear weapons.
There has even been talk of an attack on the gigantic Three Gorges Dam, which, if it fails, would affect the lives of tens of millions of Chinese, if not hundreds. This counterattack would not save Taiwan, but it makes the cost of the Chinese attack extremely high.
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The article Taiwan for the first time tests the Hiung Feng 2E cruise missile, the weapon of the counterattack on China comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/taiwan-per-la-prima-volta-testa-il-missile-da-crociera-hiung-feng-2e-larma-del-contrattacco-alla-cina/ on Fri, 18 Aug 2023 10:00:04 +0000.