Surface-to-Air TC-2 Mid-range Air-defense Missile
• Type
Mid-range, ship-based, solid propellant, air defense missile system.
• Development
The ship-based Tien-Chien II, a mid-range air defense missile designated TC-2N, originated from the
TC-2 air-to-air missile system to complement the gap between the MK-26 Standard Missile 2 (SM-2)
and MK-15 CIWS for ROC Navy in Taiwan. The requirement was for a fast response, high fire power,
anti-ship missile, and air-threat defense system. The initial design of TC-2N used theTC-2 air-to-air
missile warhead and rocket motor with an improved active radar seeker and added a booster and
thrust vector controller (TVC), for use against anti-ship missiles. It began preliminary development
in 1994 by NCSIST to develop key technologies of the TC-2N missile system, and accomplished
successfully live firing test to intercept a low-flying drone in 1997. A contract for a 2-year full-scale
engineering development program was started in 2005, and accomplished the development and
testing of vertical launching system in 2006. In 2013 under the support of ROC Navy, ship-launched
missile flight test took place in mid 2014, a TC-2N successfully fired from a ROCN frigate and
intercepted a drone representing an anti-ship missile over sea.
• Description
The TC-2N, a high performance active radar guided surface-to-air mid-range ship-launched
air-defense missile, is developed by NCSIST in Taiwan. A variant of the air-launched TC-2 missile by
attaching a booster and thrust vector controller (TVC) on the rear, the TC-2N missile can be
vertically-launched to minimize the response time, and extend the effective range. With the capability
of multi-target engagement, the TC-2N can engage with anti-ship missiles and aircrafts
simultaneously.
The TC-2N will play an important role of air-defense of the R.O.C. Navy in Taiwan.
• Specifications
1. A ship-launched active radar guided mid-range air defense missile.
2. Capable of all-weather, multi-target, all-aspect, vertical-launch, and fast-response.
3. With folded-wings to minimized missile volume and maximize ready-fire missile numbers on
board.
4. Both with vertical and inclined launching capabilities, the TC-2N can be easily installed on
mid-sized or large-sized warships.
• Status
completed development and test, ready to production and deployment