Sea Oryx

Quick Facts

Variants	Standalone variant with 12 missiles, variant with 24 missiles
Role and Mobility	Short-Range Naval Air Defense System; Ship-Based
Interceptors and Range	Tien Chien-1 Missile: High Explosive-Blast Fragmentation Warhead Maximum Effective Range: 9 km Maximum Altitude Range: 3 km
Sensors	Forward Looking Infrared Sensor Infrared Imaging Seeker
Targets	Anti-Ship Missiles, Helicopters, and Low Flying Fixed-Wing Aircraft
Status/Exports	In Development; None
Designer/Producer	National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST)

Overview

The Sea Oryx is an indigenous short-range air defense system intended for the Taiwanese Navy. It is planned to be installed on Taiwan’s Navy modern Tuo Chiang-class corvettes[i]The system has a pivotal multi-axis launcher capable of firing 8 or 16 ready-to-fire missiles.[ii]The launcher also has a forward looking infrared sensor on its side.[iii]

There are two variants of the Sea Oryx, the aforementioned one, equipped with its own radar and 12 missiles, and the other is reliant on the ship’s sensors and has 24 missiles.

The interceptor for the Sea Oryx is an upgraded variant of the short-range Tien Chien-1 missile. The missile is equipped with an imaging infrared seeker, inertial navigation system, data-link system and an enhanced rocket motor.[iv]

According to an April 2019 report submitted by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense to the Legislative Yuan, the Sea Oryx was still under development at the time, and five or more years would be required to complete development and finish deployment of the system. [v] Taiwan’s Kaohsiung (LCC-1) is being used as a test bed to conduct sea trials for various systems, including the Sea Oryx. In August 2022, it was spotted carrying a stand-alone version of the Sea Oryx which had its own sensor and control unit, allowing it to operate independently of the ship’s CIC and CMS.

Strategic Implications

Strategically, the Sea Oryx provides Taiwan with an indigenous air defense capability for its naval vessels. The system has a high ready-to-fire arsenal which increases its ability to intercept a large number of threats. It also has a reduced engagement reaction time when it operates in the lock-on-after-launch mode.[vi]