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Military to check under-performing Sparrow missiles

ROC Central News Agency

2011/01/18 22:45:41

By Emmanuelle Tzeng, Chou Yung-chieh, Kelven Huang, Justin Su and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 18 (CNA) Following a poor showing by six missiles in a test firing Tuesday, three of which were U.S.-made Sparrows, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said it will check each and every one of the remaining missiles to find out what went wrong.

MND spokesman Yu Sy-tue said 11 of the 15 scenarios tested at southern Taiwan's Jiupeng military base had successful outcomes.

"The 73.3 percent success rate was within the MND's target range of between 70 percent and 95 percent -- but barely a passing grade, " Yu said.

But President Ma Ying-jeou, who witnessed the military drill, said he was "not quite satisfied" with the results and demanded a review.

A total of 19 missiles with different ranges were fired, six of which missed their targets, translating into a 68 percent hit rate.

Three out of the six that failed to hit the targets were Sparrows, which have a poorer record than some other types of missiles.

In a 2006 exercise, there were incidents of Sparrows falling into the sea before reaching their targets.

Defense officials attributed the problem to incomplete combustion of its rocket propellant, early detonation of the fuse, and failure to explode upon reaching the target.

Pan Kung-hsiao, director of the Air Force Command's Department of Political Affairs, said the target drone's signal might have been to blame for the three Sparrows' poor performance and that the MND will try to contact the U.S. manufacturer.

A defense expert said the military might also have purposely used old and nearly dysfunctional missiles for the test firing.

Erich Shih, editor of Defense International magazine, said Tuesday's test scenarios were not based on normal simulated war situations.

For instance, Mica and Tien Chien II, mid-range missiles designed for striking at targets 40-50 km away, were used as short-range missiles this time, he said.

Kuomintang Legislator Justin S. Chou, a member of the legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, called the 68 percent hit rate "disappointing to the point of indignation."

If a military exercise under the watch of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces should turn in such a lousy score, there must be many other problems unknown to the public plaguing the country's defense system, according to Chou.

Tsai Huang-liang, a legislator of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), expressed a similar level of disgruntlement over the missile tests.

"If things keep developing this way, how can our troops fight in a war?" Tsai said.

Shuai Hua-ming, a retired general-turned-KMT lawmaker, was more sympathetic.

He said the defense authorities should of course be called to account if the cause of Tuesday's problem was poor maintenance of the weapons system. However, if the problem was caused by a shortage of military budget, then the cure lies with increasing the MND's budget.

Shih seemed to agree, saying that "maintaining high-tech weapons calls for special expertise. Dwindling defense budgets have begun to affect the missiles' maintenance fees."