Taiwan seems to be transferring towards including a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile to its F-CK-1C/D Indigenous Protection Fighters (IDF). The present timeline for the introduction of the air-launched model of the homegrown HF-3 missile is unclear, however when absolutely built-in, it can present the Republic of China Air Drive (ROCAF) with a strong new functionality to higher counter China’s rising naval may.
A photograph of an F-CK-1 carrying a HF-3 missile was lately published by Taiwan’s United Each day Information. The picture, submitted by an nameless reader of that newspaper, seems to indicate check rounds of the missile, which is a part of the Hsiung Feng, or Courageous Wind sequence. One of many massive missiles is carried underneath every wing. The jet additionally has a 275-gallon gas tank underneath the fuselage and AIM-9P Sidewinder air-to-air missiles on the wingtip stations. The HF-3 carries calibration marks which might be used to make it simpler to watch a retailer after launch.
UDN printed what seems to be the primary clear picture of an air-launched HF-3 dummy spherical, if not shopped.
It appears to have a rotating sleeve on the finish for preliminary stabilization? pic.twitter.com/KRrfTdqQ37
— Taepodong (@stoa1984) February 21, 2025
Liberty Instances simply printed one other picture.
If goes effectively, it may lend the F-CK-1 a second life, possibly even resulting in additional growth of an indigenous help fighter (ISF) — that’s me fantasizing. pic.twitter.com/9UqHKZotBB— Taepodong (@stoa1984) February 21, 2025
The article notes that the ROCAF and the Nationwide Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Expertise (NCSIST) have resumed work on the air-launched HF-3, “which was beforehand reported to have been stalled for a very long time.” The NCSIST, which initially developed the HF-3 for launch from warships and floor launchers, is a state analysis and growth company broadly much like the Pentagon’s DARPA however with its personal manufacturing functionality.
Reportedly, work initially started in 2022 to cut back the dimensions of the HF-3 for plane carriage, together with plans for the manufacturing of a small batch of the ‘compact’ model of the missile. The UDN story notes that, sooner or later after this, the challenge was suspended, however work had been restarted by September 2024, with additional analysis and checks carried out “within the sea and air.” In consequence, the air-launched HF-3 needs to be able to bear operational analysis later this 12 months.
A mannequin of a floor/ground-launched HF-3 missile. The extra solid-propellant boosters are faraway from the air-launched model. 玄史生/Wikimedia Commons
The unique plan for the air-launched HF-3 was meant to be accomplished by 2028, though it’s not instantly clear if this has since modified on account of this system pause.
In accordance with the UDN report, the air-launched model of the HF-3 is 5.5 meters (18 ft) lengthy, with a diameter of not more than 36 centimeters (14 inches), and a weight of lower than 900 kilograms (1,980 kilos). The unique HF-3 was 6.1 meters (20 ft) lengthy, with a diameter of 46 centimeters (18 inches), and weighed round 1,400 kilograms (3,090 kilos).
As an air-launched anti-ship weapon, the HF-3 affords a number of notable benefits over the U.S.-supplied AGM-84 Harpoon in any other case utilized by the ROCAF on this position — though this isn’t suitable with the F-CK-1, as an alternative being utilized by the F-16, as you possibly can examine here.
A ROCAF F-16 armed with Harpoon missiles throughout an anti-invasion drill on a freeway highway in Chang-Hua, Taiwan, in Might 2019. Photograph by Patrick Aventurier/Getty Photos Aventurier Patrick
The HF-3’s liquid-fuel ramjet motor offers supersonic efficiency, in comparison with the subsonic Harpoon. With a high pace of Mach 3.5, the HF-3 is far tougher to defend in opposition to. Vary figures printed for the missile differ, with some accounts suggesting a short-range model can hit targets at round 120-150 kilometers (75-93 miles), rising to 300-400 kilometers (186-249 miles) in long-range kind. It’s unclear which model the air-launched HF-3 greatest corresponds to. Nonetheless, launching the missile from a fast-moving fighter at altitude ought to assist increase general vary regardless. As compared, the air-launched Harpoon has a spread of round 80 miles within the AGM-84L kind that’s the most succesful mannequin operated by the ROCAF.
On the similar time, air launch obviates the necessity for separate booster motors to carry the HF-3 as much as the pace at which the ramjet can begin to function. In accordance with reports, eradicating the solid-propellant boosters trimmed round 200 kilograms (440 kilos) from the missile’s weight, serving to make it extra appropriate for plane carriage. Nonetheless, additional weight and size-reduction measures had been nonetheless needed.
Like Harpoon, the HF-3 is guided by an inertial navigation system (INS) with terminal energetic radar homing. In floor/ground-launched kind, it’s armed with a 265-pound high-explosive, semi-armor piercing warhead, though this might be smaller within the air-launched model. The warhead is reportedly triggered by a wise fuse designed to direct a lot of the explosive vitality downward, into the ship’s hull, for max harmful impact.
Check launch of an HF-3 missile from a Tuo Chiang class corvette of the Republic of China Navy. Taiwan Ministry of Nationwide Protection
Chinese language naval forces have been rapidly expanding lately, basically, which has already prompted the Taiwanese army to hunt quite a lot of new and improved anti-ship capabilities.
Anti-ship missiles launched from the land, from warships, and from ROCAF fighters are already an important part of Taiwan’s defensive plans, designed to thwart a potential Chinese move on the island.
In an ROCAF context, TWZ has beforehand reported:
“The pairing of F-16 and AGM-84 Harpoon is a key aspect in Taiwan’s capacity to defend necessary strategic waterways and territorial claims in opposition to a maritime opponent. The ROCAF operates a mixture of older Harpoons plus the newer Block II AGM-84Ls.”
You possibly can learn extra about Taiwan’s AGM-84s here and in regards to the missile basically on this previous TWZ piece.
A mannequin of an HF-3 missile in the course of the Kaohsiung Worldwide Maritime and Protection Exhibition in 2016. SAM YEH/AFP through Getty Photos SAM YEH
The air-launched HF-3 could be a potent complement to the Harpoon. That is very true relating to pushing anti-ship missile kill zones farther from Taiwan’s shores and in a much more unpredictable and responsive method. Nonetheless, it might doubtless be restricted to carriage by the F-CK-1, at the least within the shorter time period.
If a warfare with China had been to interrupt out, anti-ship missiles of all types could be completely essential in offering Taiwan with any hope of slowing an all-out advance by the Folks’s Liberation Military Navy. As such, the continued effort to subject a extra succesful air-launched anti-ship missile is more and more seen as a needed deterrent as tensions between Taipei and Beijing proceed.
Contact the creator: thomas@thewarzone.com
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