The naval officer who was reportedly responsible for firing a missile into the Taiwan Strait by accident on Friday might have done so due to fatigue, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding that the missile launch control procedure would be revised so that a device necessary to activate the launch sequence would be held in the safekeeping of warship commanders.
According to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office, second-class petty officer Kao Chia-chun (高嘉駿) was sleep-deprived when he accidentally launched a Hsiung Feng III missile on a Chinchiang-class corvette. The missile ripped through a Taiwanese fishing vessel, killing the boat’s captain and injuring three crew.
Kao allegedly had a sleepless night due to stress prior to an equipment inspection and test on Friday, and during a rehearsal of the missile-launch procedure ahead of the test, Kao accidentally switched the missile control panel into “battle mode” and touched the “launch” button, thereby setting off a supersonic anti-ship missile armed with a live warhead.
Chief petty officer Chen Ming-hsiu (陳銘修) accompanied Kao to the operations room to rehearse the drill, but he later went out for a break, leaving Kao alone in the room.
Chen rushed back to the operations room and shifted the control panel back to “training mode” immediately after hearing the missile launch, but he was unable to terminate the missile launch or destroy it.
Prosecutors said Kao had been operating the missile launch system for three years and it was unimaginable that an experienced officer could commit such an error.
Further investigations would be conducted to determine whether the missile was launched by mistake or on purpose and the two men are to be charged with professional negligence causing death, prosecutors said.
To prevent accidental missile launches, the ministry yesterday said that it would require the commanding officer of a battleship to keep a device necessary to launch a missile in their safekeeping.
The device is a plug that connects a wire used to send a launch order, and it has until now been kept by the weapons systems officer, but the ministry said the piece of equipment would now be transferred to the commanding officer of a warship.
The order extends to all the navy’s combat vessels, including Kidd-class warships, Cheng Kung-class, Kang Ding-class and Chi Yang-class frigates, Chinchiang-class corvettes and missile patrol boats.
Navy Command Headquarters Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) said the launch plug was deployed in the misfire incident last week.
The plug is deployed not just during war games, but during regular inspections, even if no missile is scheduled to be launched, Mei said.
Asked whether the control system could be redesigned to prevent accidental launches by a single officer, Mei said the weapons system is designed to be engaged immediately in the event of a war, adding that the navies of all countries deploy a two-person control mechanism to validate a launch order.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS