- Filed Under
TAIPEI — Taiwan tested its longest range ship-to-ship missile within a month of China putting its first aircraft carrier into service, a report said Nov. 12.
Dubbed an “aircraft carrier killer,” the missile has a range of 250 miles and is capable of achieving Mach 3.0, or triple the speed of sound, the Taipei-based United Daily News said.
“The Chung-shan Institute of Science and Technology finished a series of tests off Taiwan last month,” it said, in reference to Taiwan’s arms development unit.
“No ship is capable of withstanding its high-velocity impact,” the paper quoted an unnamed military source as saying.
Taiwan’s defense ministry declined to comment on the report.
The missile was described as a long-range variant of the Hsiung Feng III, already installed on Taiwanese frigates and missile boats and designed to achieve Mach 2.0 with a range of up to 80 miles.
China put its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, into service in late September.
The Pentagon said the ship, a refurbished Soviet vessel, was the first step toward a future fleet of carriers expected to be built domestically in coming years.
