The Sky Sword 1 (Chinese: 天劍一, Tien Chien I), or TC-1, is a short range infrared guided air-to-air missile. The missile has fire and forget slave-by-radar capabilities. It consists of an imaging infrared seeker, a high explosive warhead, a solid propellant motor and a guidance control unit.^[1] The seeker uses dual spectral IR and has a detection range of 18.5km.^[2] The Sky Sword 1 is also used as a surface-to-air missile by the Antelope air defence system.^[3][4]

Development

The Sky Sword 1 was developed in the mid-1980s and revealed in May 1986, as Taiwan's first indigenous air-to-air missile.^[5] The production of the missile started in 1991 and the air-to-air version entered ROCAF service in 1993. It bears a striking similarity to the American AIM-9 (also in Taiwanese service) and fulfills a similar role on the Indigenous Defense Fighter to the AIM-9 on the F-16. In 2017 NCSIST exhibited a variant of the TC-1 with a larger diameter motor.^[6]

Service history

TC-1 missiles were employed during a 2019 training exercise off Taiwan’s east coast.^[7]

Variants

TC-1L

The TC-1L is a ground-launched variant for use with the Antelope air defence system.^[8]

Sea TC-1

Developed for use with the Sea Oryx system, the Sea TC-1 variant has an improved seeker, data-link, and rocket motor.^[9]

See also

• Republic of China Air Force
• Sky Bow
• Sky Sword II

Similar weapons

• AIM-9 Sidewinder – (United States of America)
• RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile – (United States of America)
• AAM-3 – (Japan)
• AAM-5 – (Japan)
• R.550 Magic – (France)
• MICA – (France)
• MAA-1 Piranha – (Brazil)
• A-Darter – (South Africa)
• Fatter – (Iran)
• R-73 – (Soviet Union)
• PL-9 – (People's Republic of China)
• Python – (Israel)

References

External links

• TC-2 info on Global Security
• TC-2N test video: