Battle of Caving Banks

The Wan Chien (Chinese: 萬劍; lit. 'ten thousand swords'; Tâi-lô: bān-kiàm) is an air to ground cruise missile developed and produced by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) of Taiwan.[2][3][4][5]

Design and development

It partly resembles the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon and the Storm Shadow. Serial production was expected to start in 2015.[2][6] Full operational capability was declared in 2018. It is functional in both a ground strike role and a naval strike role.[7] The codename for the development and initial production of the Wan Chien was "Project God’s Axe" (神斧).[8]

After the completion of initial production NCSIST began working on a long range variant with a 400km range.[8]

Service history

The Wan Chien entered service in 2011. The primary launch platform is the AIDC F-CK-1 C/D.[9]

In 2022 annual production was approximately 50 missiles a year. Production was expected to end in 2024 but in 2023 funds were allocated to extend production of the improved version through 2028. [10]

General characteristics

  • Platform: Aircraft launched
  • Engine: Turbine[11]
  • Range: 200 km,[2] 240 km[9]
  • Guidance: GPS enabled[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Taiwan Air Force test-fires domestic cruise missile | Taiwan News | 2020-11-13 11:55:00". 13 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b c J. Michael Cole. "Taiwan Unveils 'Wan Chien' Air-To-Ground Cruise Missile". The Diplomat. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  3. ^ "Taiwan's 'Wan Chien' missile likely to be deployed 2014 - Taiwan News". Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 2017-03-16.
  4. ^ Raska, Michael (9 March 2017). "How China Plans to Win the Next Great Big War In Asia". The National Interest. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  5. ^ "我遙攻武器 萬劍彈曝光 – 焦點 – 自由時報電子報". Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  6. ^ "Taiwan Unveils "Wan Chien" Air-to-Ground Standoff Weapon". Defense Update. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  7. ^ Panda, Ankit. "Report: Taiwanese Air Force's New Stand-Off Cruise Missile Is Operational". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  8. ^ a b Chen, Kelvin (13 November 2020). "Taiwan Air Force test-fires domestic cruise missile". www.taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Wan Chien". csis.org. CSIS. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  10. ^ Strong, Matthew (2 September 2023). "Taiwan Air Force orders extra Wan Chien missiles". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Upgraded IDF jets to boost Taiwan's air defense | Politics | FOCUS TAIWAN – CNA ENGLISH NEWS". Retrieved 2017-03-16.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wan_Chien