North Korea’s rocket launch has once again draw World’s attention to Korean peninsula but for Taiwan it was an important moment for quite different reason. As Ministry of National Defence confirmed, Raytheon-made early warning radar (EWR) had tracked DPRK’s launch. It is the first confirmation that radar based in Hsinchu is operational.
Early warning radar is a major boost for Taiwan’s air and missile defense. According to Taipei Times, radar is “described as the most powerful EWR installation on the face of the planet …can simultaneously track as many as 1,000 airborne targets the size of a golf ball within a range of 3,000 km. The system can also track aircraft and may have the ability to monitor targets at sea, though there are doubts that the satellite-tracking is active“. For Taiwan’s missile defense it means that it will have approximately six minutes to react on missiles coming from China, depending on the exact location of launch.
More about Taiwan’s EWR in broader context can be found here.
Taiwan in Perspective 
Pingback: The best defense is a good offense: Taiwan’s counter-strike capability « Taiwan in Perspective·
Pingback: Porcupine’s Spines: Taiwan’s Indigenous Missile Program | Taiwan in Perspective·
Pingback: Porcupine’s Spines: Taiwan’s Indigenous Missile Program | Asia Security Watch·