Chung Shyang II UAV

Chung Shyang II UAV
The Chung Shyang II UAV being unveiled publicly on the 2007 National Day Celebrations
Role	UAV
Manufacturer	Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology
Status	Development began in 2002, expected to finish in 2011
Primary user	Republic of China (Taiwan) Army
Program cost	143.2 Million NTD (2009-2011)
Developed from	Chung Shyang I

The Chung Shyang II UAV is an unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) under Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense.

History

CSIST unveiled a prototype of the UAV at the Taipei Aerospace and Defence Technology Exhibition in August, 2005. CSIST began researching UAVs in 2002, which resulted in the first Chung Shyang I UAV, then later the Chung Shyang II.

The Chung Shyang II UAV can perform surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition, artillery spotting and battle damage assessment sorties for the military and perform other duties such as border patrol, and aerial reconnaissance for various government agencies.

Funding for the project has been passed by the Legislative Yuan, it is expected to be finished in 2011.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) military is currently planning to develop an armed variant of the UAV, and procure around 3 battalions of armed UAVs for the Republic of China Army. Some industry sources have been stating that an armed variant would include a 800kg (1,760 lb) payload, possibly an early-warning radar, a few AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and perhaps the self-made Hsiung Feng IIE cruise missile.

References

• http://www.strategypage.com/militaryforums/69-21726.aspx
• http://www.livingroom.org.au/uavblog/archives/taiwan_wants_to_arm_tactical_uav.php
• http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=970020&lang=eng_news&cate_img=83.jpg&cate_rss=news_Politics_TAIWAN