유도탄 IDF 경국 전투기 장착 사진이 공개된 HF-3 초음속 대함미사일

[위종민]

경국이 날개 파일런에 HF-3 대함미사일 2발, 윙팁 파일런에 천검 공대공미사일 2발, 센터라인 파일런에 보조연료탱크를 장착한 사진이 공개됐네요. 

HF-3는 함상발사 버전의 무게가 1,500kg에 달하고, 공중발사시 불필요한 로켓 부스터를 제외하고 1,300kg, 길이 6.1m, 폭 46cm에 달했지만 중산과기연에서 공대함 버전을 새로 개발해 길이 5.5m, 폭 36cm, 중량 900kg의 새로운 대함미사일을 개발했다고 합니다. 

Taiwan Integrates HF-3 Supersonic Anti-Ship Missile on Domestic Fighter - Naval News

Taiwan Integrates HF-3 Supersonic Anti-Ship Missile on Domestic Fighter

• Published on 24/02/2025
• By Curtis Lee
• In News

In addition to the two air-launched HF-3 anti-ship missiles, the IDF’s anti-ship loadout included an external fuel tank and two Sky Sword air-to-air missiles for self-defense. UDN Photo

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The plan of integrating the originally ship/land-based HF-3 onto the IDF was first proposed in the 2017; however, as the original missile design weights 1,500kg, a significant weight-stripping measure was needed to strap the bulky ramjet missile on the IDF.

A recent image published by the local news outlet revealed that a Taiwanese Air Force Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) was conducting a ground-run test while carrying two large anti-ship missiles which appears to be an air-launched variant of the domestic HF-3 supersonic anti-ship missile.

Ramjet missiles like the HF-3 require rocket boosters to achieve initial velocity in order for the onboard ramjet engines to kick in from a stay-still platform like ship or land-based launcher. The IDF carrying the air-launched HF-3 can provide the initial launch speed, so there‘s no need to retain the two solid-rocket boosters from the original design. This alone reduced the weight of the missile by 200kg, but not enough. The original HF-3 without the rocket boosters was still too large (6.1m long and 46cm wide) and heavy (around 1,300kg) for the light fighter to carry it, so there were rumors that the air-launched HF-3 concept might never leave the drawing board.

In 2022, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST) initiated a project to scale-down the HF-3 to make it compact enough to fit it onto the IDF and the result is a new missile body with a reported length of 5.5m and a diameter of 36cm. The newly designed missile also weighs around 900kg. From the photo, we can see that the IDF conducting the carriage test was carrying two air-launched HF-3, an external fuel tank and two Sky Sword air-to-air missiles for self-defense.

JASDF F-2 fighter from Gifu air base in a test flight with two ASM-3 missiles in February 2020. Picture by local photographer Takeru Sugiyama.

The air-launched HF-3’s overall size and weight is now very similar to another Asian counterpart, the Mitsubishi ASM-3 carried by F-2 fighters of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Although the F-2 could carry four domestic supersonic anti-ship missiles at once, being able to carry two “scaled-down” version of the HF-3 can still provide another tactical option for the Taiwanese Air Force when it comes to anti-ship operations.

Hsiung Feng III | Missile Threat

Hsiung Feng III | Missile Threat