《TAIPEI TIMES》US missile explodes before impact

Staff writer, with CNA

Air force Chief of Staff General Tsao Chin-ping （曹進平） confirmed local media reports that a US-made MIM-104F Patriot （PAC-3） missile fired during a drill early yesterday prematurely exploded before it hit the target.

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Tsao said the air force and the military’s top research unit, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, were still investigating the cause of the explosion.

Local media reports said it was the first time a Patriot missile bought from the US had exploded on its own before hitting its target during firing tests that are conducted in Taiwan every two years.

Separately, the air force apologized to the Coast Guard Administration after one of its F-16 jets badly missed its target during a training session on Wednesday last week and dropped a bomb too close to a coast guard vessel.

An F-16V jet missed its target at sea and dropped a 907kg MK-84 bomb in waters near Pingtung County’s Jioupeng military base, Tsao told a regular briefing.

The bomb sent off a shock wave that affected a crewed coast guard vessel, although no casualties were reported, because the bomb landed several nautical miles from the vessel, he said.

The air force has apologized to the Coast Guard Administration and would punish the pilot, as well as his instructor, for failing to properly supervise the bomb drop drill, Tsao said.

Tsao’s apology came after local media reported on the incident late on Monday after several coast guard members complained on social media that they had to seek medical attention because of the shock wave caused by the bomb.

Tsao also confirmed that the air force has not listed a budget for the Beechcraft T-34C trainer replacement program.

The service life of the airframes of Taiwan’s T-34 fleet would not expire for many years and the requirements for their replacement has not yet been determined, he said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense yesterday said reports that the navy overspent its ship fuel budget by NT$4 billion （US$125.25 million） were untrue, adding that the funds allocated for fuel would be increased to NT$11 billion next year.

Local media on Monday reported that the navy had exceeded its budget for fuel as it had needed to mount frequent sorties in response to aggressive ship movements by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy in waters around Taiwan.

The ministry has approved a NT$7.1 billion ship fuel budget for the navy, which has not been exceeded this year, Rear Admiral Chen Chun-chung （陳春忠）, chief of the Material Readiness Section at the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Logistics, told a routine news conference in Taipei.

Should funding run out, the navy can apply to use available funding reserves in accordance with regular procedures, he said.

Additional reporting by Jonathan Chin

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES