Sky Bow I / Tien Kung I

Tien-Kung, a surface-to-air missile system designed for air defense against intensive aircraft attack,equipped with a single stage dual thrust solid propellant rocket motor and guided by mid-course inertial reference and radar in the terminal phase, is capable of multi-target tracking and automatic multi-target engagement. In 1993 Taiwan bought surface-to-air missile (SAM) system components from Raytheon of the USA, at a cost of $1.1 billion. There were direct offsets - joint development and technology transfers. Taiwan is to develop and produce this Tien Kung (Sky Bow) SAM system, a derivative of the Patriot system. The missiles are deployed in underground cells, each housing four missiles protected by a concrete wall a meter thick. Raytheon is to provide the missile forebody, ground support equipment, training, maintenance and technical support. Patriot was sold to Taiwan in 1993.

Taiwan's overall air defense architecture consists of three sets of US-made Patriot missile systems [200 Patriot missiles total] primarily intended to intercept guided missiles, deployed at three locations Nankang, Linkou and Wanli around heavily-populated Taipei. Six sets of Tien Kung I and Tien Kung II missile systems are responsible for medium- and high-altitude targets. The 20 Hawk missile bases are responsible for targets in the low- to medium- altitudes.

Taiwan has placed Tien Kung long- range ground-to-air missiles and [Hsiung Feng] long-range shore-to-ship missiles on the Jinmen and Matsu islands, only 10 km from the mainland, bringing the whole of Fujian Province and some airspace and important ports in Zhejiang and Guangdong within range of the missiles.