The Taiwan Hot Rod

September 5, 2008: Taiwan has begun production of a new anti-ship missile (Hsiung Feng 3) for its warships. The 19 foot long Hsiung-feng 3 weighs a ton (with a 400 pound warhead) and has a top speed of 2300 kilometers an hour. Max range is 300 kilometers. It uses inertial and GPS guidance to get to the general vicinity of the target, then several other sensors to lock on to a specific ship and hit it.

Taiwan tends to develop its new weapons quietly, and then suddenly reveal them. The Hsiung Feng 3 suddenly began showing up in military parades, with little official comment.