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.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS