Taiwan to build 12 new domestic TK III missile sites by 2026

Taiwan will build 12 new indigenous Tien-Kung or Sky Bow III (TK III) land-based surface-to-air missile sites by the end of 2026 to counter the threat of China's ballistic missiles, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), Report informs referring to Focus Taiwan CNA.

The report, sent to the Legislative Yuan on October 20 for a defense budget review, said the new sites were needed based on the advice of Taiwan's top military research unit, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST).

It said the NCSIST has found that older generations of TK missiles it built, the TK IIs, could no longer counter the threat of the People's Liberation Army's advanced ballistic missile systems and needed to be modernized.

Consequently, the MND decided to upgrade its existing MIM-23 Hawk missile system sites and TK II missile sites and turn them into 12 new missile sites for the more advanced TK III land-based surface-to-air missile sites, the report said.