An interesting bit of news on Taiwan today. According to an AFP account in the Straits Times, the island is developing a so-called aircraft carrier killer.
Taiwan has watched warily as China has built up the number of missiles pointed at the island, and has found the military balance tipped against it. But developing a carrier killer is an interesting step as much of the focus of the focus until now has been on Chinese efforts to develop the capacity to deter US carriers from wading into any dispute in the Taiwan Strait.
According to the report:
‘The vessel will be capable of cruising at speeds of up to 55 kilometres an hour and boast technologies helping it to evade radar detection, the Taipei-based Apple Daily reported, citing military officials. The navy hopes to arm the corvette with Taiwan’s home-grown Hsiungfeng III supersonic ship-to-ship missile, according to the report.’