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According to recent reports from Taiwan media, in the Taiwan military's annual "Sea and Air Precision Ammunition Shooting", the Taiwan military will launch the "Hsiung Feng III" shore-to-ship missile, and the Taiwan "Coast Guard Administration" will also use the "Bali" coast guard ship to launch the "Hsiung Feng II" ship-to-ship missile in accordance with the "peace-war transition" strategy.

The Taiwan military was ready for the launch, even the launch pad was raised, but suddenly received a notice that the launch was temporarily canceled! Taiwanese media said it was related to the sudden appearance of PLA ships in the open sea, and the test launch would be carried out another day.

Launching the "Hsiung Feng-3" anti-ship missile

A comprehensive comparison of the "Hsiung Feng III" and classic Chinese and foreign supersonic anti-ship missiles

The Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile is a third-generation anti-ship missile developed by the Zhongshan Institute of Science and Technology. It is a killer weapon of the Taiwan military, designed to deter and strike large PLA ships through its supersonic speed and precision strike capabilities.

Next, we will make an exclusive analysis and compare it with classic supersonic anti-ship missiles from China and abroad to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile.

Its technical parameters are as follows: length: about 5.1 meters, diameter: 0.38 meters, weight: about 1,500 kilograms, warhead weight: 225 kilograms high-explosive warhead, maximum speed: 2.5 to 3 Mach, range:

120 to 150 kilometers, propulsion method: solid rocket engine plus ramjet engine, guidance system: inertial navigation (INS), GPS satellite navigation, terminal active radar guidance, flight path: low-altitude sea-skimming flight, terminal high-speed penetration.

The vertically launched Sky Bow 3

The comparison is carried out from the following five aspects:

1. Maximum speed

The maximum flight speed of the Hsiung Feng 3 is 2.5 to 3 Mach, which is a typical supersonic anti-ship missile.

The speed of the P-800 Onyx and BrahMos missiles is about Mach 2.5 to 2.8, which is similar to the Hsiung Feng 3.

The maximum speed of the Eagle Strike-12 missile is 3 to 4 Mach, slightly higher than the Hsiung Feng 3, and has stronger penetration capability.

2. Range comparison

The range of the Hsiung Feng III is between 120 and 150 kilometers, which is pretty standard.

"Onyx" and BrahMos have a longer range, the former reaching more than 300 kilometers and the latter 290 kilometers, which are significantly superior to the Hsiung Feng III in long-range strike capability.

The range of the Eagle Strike-12 missile is over 400 kilometers, far exceeding the Hsiung Feng III.

Onyx's shore-based launch vehicle uses a four-axle off-road truck chassis

3. Warhead power comparison

The Hsiung Feng III is equipped with a 225 kg high-explosive warhead with moderate power.

The warheads of Onyx and BrahMos weigh between 250 and 300 kg and have greater destructive power.

The YJ-12 has a warhead weighing 300 kg and is capable of causing significant damage to large ships.

4. Flight path and penetration capability

The Hsiung Feng 3 adopts low-altitude sea-skimming flight and has high-maneuverability penetration capability in the terminal stage, but it is not the most advanced among supersonic missiles.

The Onyx, BrahMos and Eagle Strike-12 missiles all have high-low combination flight trajectories and terminal supersonic penetration. In particular, the Eagle Strike-12 missile has a faster speed in the terminal flight and a stronger penetration capability.

BrahMos uses a six-axle trailer chassis

5. Guidance system comparison

The guidance system of Hsiung Feng 3 includes INS/GPS plus terminal active radar guidance, and has strong anti-interference capability.

The guidance systems of Onyx and BrahMos missiles are relatively stable, but not as accurate as the modern BeiDou system.

The Eagle Strike-12 missile combines inertial navigation, Beidou navigation system and terminal radar guidance in its guidance system, and performs well in complex electromagnetic environments.

Summarizing the above 5 points of analysis, we can draw the following conclusions:

The advantage of Hsiung Feng III lies in its good adaptability. It can be deployed through a variety of platforms, such as ship-borne and shore-based, and has battlefield flexibility. It has been widely equipped on Chenggong-class frigates, Jinjiang-class patrol ships and Guanghua No. 6 missile boats.

Although the range is slightly shorter than that of Onyx and BrahMos, it still has sufficient strike capability in narrow waters such as the Taiwan Strait. The high maneuvering flight path in the terminal stage increases the survivability of the missile.

"Hsiung Feng-3" with strap-on booster

The disadvantage of Hsiung Feng 3 is its insufficient range. Compared with other supersonic anti-ship missiles, Hsiung Feng 3 has a shorter range and is inferior to Onyx and BrahMos in long-range strike and strategic deterrence.

The warhead is relatively weak: The warhead weight of the Hsiung Feng 3 is 225 kg, slightly lower than that of other missiles, which means that its destructive capability against large ships is slightly inferior.

The test firing results of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile were generally good. In multiple live-fire tests, the Hsiung Feng III demonstrated its supersonic strike capability and accuracy.

For example, on July 16, 2018, the Taiwan Navy conducted a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Base in Pingtung. The Hsiung Feng 3 was launched from a Chenggong-class missile frigate and hit a target 47 kilometers away in 71 seconds, even in adverse sea conditions. This test launch further verified the missile's performance under actual combat conditions.

Magic version of the hero 3

Since 2016, the Zhongshan Institute of Science has implemented the so-called "Panlong Project" to develop an extended-range version of the "Hsiung Feng-3". The upgraded version of the Hsiung Feng-3 missile has been developed and entered the mass production stage. It has made many improvements, especially in terms of range and strike capability.

The Hsiung Feng 3 also uses a trailer chassis, and the launch process is more complicated.

The extended-range version of the upgraded Hsiung Feng III missile will enter mass production around 2023, and it is expected that the Taiwan military will deploy more than 1,000 anti-ship missiles of this series by 2026. The extended-range version of the missile has been equipped on multiple launch platforms of the Taiwan Navy and Air Force, including ship-based systems and land-based mobile launch systems.

Compared with the original range of 150 to 200 kilometers, the upgraded Hsiung Feng III can reach about 400 kilometers, which makes the Taiwan military more capable of striking long-range targets.

In addition, the missile's propulsion system has been improved, with new rocket boosters and more advanced ramjet engines to enhance flight performance.

In terms of appearance, the upgraded version of the Hsiung Feng III missile has increased in size and weight due to the adoption of a new propulsion system.

According to public information, the extended-range Hsiung Feng-3 missile is 6.1 meters long, 0.45 meters in diameter, weighs 1.5 tons, has a warhead weight of 150 kilograms, has a maximum range of 400 kilometers, and a maximum flight speed of Mach 2.5, which has posed a certain threat to the PLA's aircraft carriers.

The Taiwan military currently uses a mix of Hsiung Feng 2 and Hsiung Feng 3

Taiwan military strictly prevents signal leakage

As the core combat power of the Taiwan military, the Hsiung Feng III missile attaches great importance to the confidentiality of its signals, including the terminal guidance signal of the missile itself and the signal of the matching search and tracking radar. Once these signals are exposed and received and analyzed by mainland reconnaissance ships, they are very easy to be interfered in actual combat.

This is the direct reason why the launch of Hsiung Feng 3 was urgently stopped.

In fact, the PLA's "Tianquanxing" electronic reconnaissance ship had appeared 33 nautical miles east of Wushibi, Yilan, Taiwan Island two days before the Taiwan military's "sea and air precision ammunition shooting" began. The "Tianquanxing" has powerful electronic reconnaissance capabilities, and the Taiwan military is also well aware of this, but just pretended not to know.

It is easy to stop missile test launches, but it is difficult to drive away the PLA reconnaissance ship. What if the "Tianquanxing" does not leave? Can the missile test launch of the Taiwan military be postponed indefinitely?

"Tianquanxing" electronic reconnaissance ship

In short, the Taiwan military's emergency halt to missile tests fully demonstrates that Taiwan's geopolitical environment is very poor because it is too close to the Chinese mainland and is an island. Facing the PLA's powerful long-range strike and electronic warfare capabilities, its situation is very difficult.

Under such circumstances, the Taiwan military's "Hsiung Feng-3" anti-ship missile may only be able to go to Palau, 2,000 kilometers away, for test firing, just like the "Patriot-3". As for whether it will accidentally hit local ships at that time, it is unknown.