Defense budget lifts the veil on missile projects

By Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer Add TT as Preferred Source Taiwan’s Ching Tien I (擎天) supersonic cruise missiles have completed their production run and entered service, the non-classified portion of the proposed military budget for next year shows, indirectly confirming the existence of a system that has long been the subject of speculation.The Ministry of National Defense’s budget proposal submitted to the legislature this week included a curious item called “Fei Chi II (飛戟) weapons system and equipment maintenance program,” which is to be implemented from next year through 2031.Chinese-language media have labeled the budget’s reference to the Fei Chi II system as an “official leak” connected to the Ching Tien II hypersonic missile, which implicitly a