SKY SWORD 1 (TC-I)

In the mid-1980s, Taiwan began the study for a short-range air-to-air missile that would equip its Air Force and be manufactured entirely in its own country. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology began the works and in 1986 a new missile was presented under designation “Tien Chen I“, (TC-1), known worldwide as “Sky Sword 1“. Externally, the missile is very similar to the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, and has been equipped with an infrared guidance unit and a high explosive charge connected to a contact or laser proximity fuze. The missile has fire and forget slave by radar capabilities, so the launcher aircraft should not continue engage to its target after the firing. Production began in 1991 and the first missiles arrived at the ROC Air Force in 1993. Since the end of the 1990s they have been replaced by the more capable Sky Sword 2.

SKY SWORD 1 gallery and more info