The Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E; ) is a surface-to-surface land-attack cruise missile system developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Taiwan.

Development

According to the Taiwan Defense Review (TDR), the HF-2E land attack cruise missile is not a derivative of the Hsiung Feng 2 HF-2 anti-ship missile as it is often incorrectly reported. The use of the "HF-2E" designation is the primary cause of this confusion and was intentional misinformation done to divert attention away from the true nature of the project, which is that of a long range offensive cruise missile. The HF-2E is actually a completely different design and is said to serve a similar function in Taiwan's military as the US Navy's Tomahawk cruise missile. Its launch weight is reported to be in the range, including its solid rocket booster. It is essentially a tactical land attack cruise missile designed for use against military target sets, particularly air-defense fire units and command-and-control facilities, and its relatively small warhead size and the rather limited number of missiles planned for procurement clearly suggest that this is not a "first strike" weapon.

The project was first announced in 2001. Following several test firings in 2004 and early 2005 at the Jiu Peng Missile Range in southeastern Taiwan, the baseline HF-2E (Block I) completed its operational evaluation (OPEVAL) in 2005, the missile flying a low-altitude circuit off Taiwan's southeastern coastline between Pingtung and Lanyu Island. An improved HF-2E missile was reportedly tested by CSIST at Jui Peng Missile Range on 2 February 2007.

Production and fielding

The low-rate production of the Block I missile was to have started in July 2005 and using funds originally allocated for its R&D, at least five missiles were built. The unit cost per missile was estimated to be at US$3.08 million (2003 US$ dollar value). The HF-2E began low volume production in the Project ChiChun (戟隼, jǐ zhǔn, lance hawk). A Taipei Times news report claimed that President Ma Ying Jeou ordered the production of 500 to 1000 HF-2E missiles in 2008. It was approved and cleared to enter full volume/serial production in 2011. It supposedly can deliver a unitary warhead to a range of . The Associated Press has reported a range of 1,500 km.

In 2022 annual combined production of the HF-2E and Hsiung Sheng was 81 units, the two missiles share a production line.

In 2025 it was reported that the navy planned to upgrade the Kee Lung-class destroyers with HF-2E missiles.

Hsiung Sheng

The improved variant has been designated the Hsiung Sheng (). It is designed to be able to strike critical targets in distant Chinese cities like Wuhan and Qingdao. The Hsiung Sheng carries either a unitary or fragmentation warhead.

General characteristics

  • Primary Function: Land-attack cruise missile
  • Power Plant: turbofan engine 1,500 km, and 2,000 km.