Article Posted on : - May 14, 2012

Hsiung Ffeng (Brave Wind) III on display.

TAIPEI (AFP): Taiwan is arming more of its fleet with its new "carrier killer" anti-ship missiles as China conducts further sea trials of its first aircraft carrier, local media said Monday.

Five of the Taiwanese navy's eight Perry-class frigates have been armed with the supersonic Hsiung Ffeng (Brave Wind) III weapons, the Taipei-based China Times said.

Some of its smaller patrol boats have also been equipped with the missiles, which are designed to cruise at a speed of Mach 2.0, or twice the speed of sound, with a range of up to 130 kilometres, the newspaper said.

The defence ministry declined to comment on the report.

The China Times said the navy plans to deploy 120 such missiles -- dubbed "aircraft carrier killers" by their developer -- in a project costing an estimated USD 400 million.

The missiles were first unveiled by Taiwan in August last year on the same day that China began sea trials for its first aircraft carrier, a reconditioned 1980s-era warship originally commissioned by the Soviet navy.

China has conducted seven sea trials of the ship since mid-2011, the paper said, without identifying its source.

Taiwan's defence ministry has expressed alarm at China's recent naval expansion, although one expert said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was still years away from operating a fully-equipped aircraft carrier.