Sky Sword I
Guided missile
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sky Sword I, Tien Chien I, or TC-1 (Chinese: 天劍一; pinyin: Tiān Jiàn Yī; Wade–Giles: Tʻien1 Chien4 I1) is a short range infrared guided air-to-air missile. The missile has fire and forget slave-by-radar capabilities. It consists of an imaging infrared seeker, a high explosive warhead, a solid propellant motor and a guidance control unit.[1] The seeker uses dual spectral IR and has a detection range of 18.5 km.[2] The Sky Sword 1 is also used as a surface-to-air missile by the Antelope air defence system.[3][4]
| Sky Sword I | |
|---|---|
| Type | Guided missile |
| Place of origin | Taiwan |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1980s to present |
| Used by | Republic of China Air Force and Republic of China Army |
| Production history | |
| Designed | Early 1980s |
| Manufacturer | National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology |
| Variants | Antelope air defence system and Sea Oryx |
Development
The Sky Sword 1 was developed in the mid-1980s and revealed in May 1986, as Taiwan's first indigenous air-to-air missile.[5] The production of the missile started in 1991 and the air-to-air version entered ROCAF service in 1993. It bears a striking similarity to the American AIM-9 (also in Taiwanese service) and fulfills a similar role on the Indigenous Defense Fighter to the AIM-9 on the F-16. In 2017 NCSIST exhibited a variant of the TC-1 with a larger diameter motor.[6]
Service history
TC-1 missiles were employed during a 2019 training exercise off Taiwan’s east coast.[7]
Variants
TC-1L
The TC-1L is a ground-launched variant for use with the Antelope air defence system.[8]
Sea TC-1
Developed for use with the Sea Oryx system, the Sea TC-1 variant has an improved seeker, data-link, and rocket motor.[9]
See also
Similar weapons
- AIM-9 Sidewinder – (United States)
- RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile – (United States)
- AAM-3 – (Japan)
- AAM-5 – (Japan)
- R.550 Magic – (France)
- MICA – (France)
- MAA-1 Piranha – (Brazil)
- A-Darter – (South Africa)
- Fatter – (Iran)
- R-73 – (Soviet Union)
- PL-9 – (China)
- Python – (Israel)