The Standard Type II missile has only been launched 6 times in 22 years. High cost and leakage of secrets are the main reasons.

On October 6, 2005, the Soviet-Ao warship conducted the first test-firing of the Mark 2 missile in the Norfolk waters of the United States, and hit the target. This also allowed the US military officers and technical representatives on the ship to affirm the quality of the Chinese naval officers and soldiers. During the test-firing mission at that time, the Su-Ao warship flew the American and Chinese flags at the same time, which can be said to be an extremely rare scene. (provided by readers)

[Reporter Luo Tianbin/Reporting from Taipei] The situation in the Taiwan Strait has continued to be tense in recent years. The core of the combat power of our country's most powerful maritime air defense umbrella, the "Keelung-class destroyer", is the American-made Standard Type II anti-aircraft missile. It is pointed out that since 2004, our country has purchased a total of 29 missiles from the United States in two batches. Two standard Type II medium-range anti-aircraft missiles, but in the past 22 years, the outside world has learned that there have been only 6 live-fire firings, 4 of which were live-fire firings in the United States, and only 2 firings in Taiwan. This has also made many military fans and people curious, why are such expensive combat-ready weapons always "prepared but not used" in normal times?

These 292 Standard-II missiles are currently all deployed on four Keelung-class destroyers. The maximum number of missiles a single ship can carry can reach 68. If all four "Keelung-class destroyers" are fully loaded with Standard-II missiles, they will carry 272 missiles in one round. However, the ultra-long range of up to 160 kilometers makes it face great challenges during exercises in the Taiwan Strait. Among the only 6 live-fire firings, 4 were when the officers and soldiers went to the United States for ship-receiving training, and each fired one test missile in U.S. waters; and there were only two test-firings in Taiwan, namely the Han Kuang 23 exercise in 2007 and the "Sea Mark Exercise" made public in 2013.

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The Standard Type II missile is the most powerful ship-based anti-aircraft missile currently in service in our naval fleet. Its combat range can reach 74 to 167 kilometers, but it is only equipped on Keelung-class warships. (Photo: Presidential Palace website). Raytheon of the United States also publicly demonstrated its latest "SM-2 Block IIIC/CU" medium-range anti-aircraft missile at the beginning of this year. The new missile introduces "active guidance" technology derived from the higher-end SM-6 missile, which will significantly enhance the ability of US surface ships to counter saturation attacks.

A retired naval general analyzed that only 6 missiles have been fired in the past 22 years, mainly because the missiles are too expensive. The unit price of the early Standard 2 missiles was as high as US$900,000, which was approximately NT$28 million based on past exchange rates. Today's new production and logistics costs have soared to over hundreds of millions of NT$. More importantly, when long-range missiles are launched around the Taiwan Strait, key electronic parameters such as the missile's seeker frequency and radar illumination wave are very easy to be "skimmed" by the People's Liberation Army's electronic reconnaissance aircraft or intelligence ships. In addition, the modern navy's "war tactics simulator" is extremely powerful. It can simulate engagement drills encountering saturation attacks through computers, and there is no need to push real money into the launcher every time.

He said that missiles have a life limit problem and will eventually age after being stored for a long time. In order to solve the "disappearing commercial source" crisis of key components facing the suspension of production by the original factory, the Navy has specially compiled a budget of NT$3.278 billion (approximately US$102 million) to entrust the United States. It is expected to fully purchase the backup components of the Standard 2 missile before the end of 2027. This maintenance will focus on the replacement and life extension of core parts such as target detection and power supply. At the same time, the Navy is also working with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and domestic manufacturers to conduct technical training, hoping to use a dual-track approach to overcome the shortage crisis, so that these active air defense main forces can continue to maintain a perfect state of firing at any time.

The Australian Department of Defense announced in July this year that it successfully launched a Standard Type II (SM-2) anti-aircraft missile and shot down a cruise missile target using the domestic ground-based air defense "Expeditionary Launch System" prototype system for the first time. (Picture taken from X@GuyPlopsky)

Retired generals said that although the "Hai Gong Type 3" anti-aircraft missile self-developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences is superior to the current Type 2 missile in terms of range and speed, and also has the active guidance advantage of fire and forget, due to changes in the Navy's shipbuilding plan in recent years, the tonnage of the new generation of light frigates is insufficient, causing the Hai Gong Type 3 to face the embarrassing situation of "having missiles but no ships to install them." The Navy is currently planning to promote the 7,000-ton "Ji Hai Project" new-generation main combat ship, and is evaluating obtaining the most powerful Standard VI missiles from the United States. Before the future "Taiwan Mini Aegis" is officially formed into the army, these B-2 missiles will continue to perform the important task of medium-range air defense across the Taiwan Strait.