- Shihu (西湖) Nike-Hercules site (+24° 34′ 6.16″, +120° 43′ 48.79″)
The site had taken shape in 1966 but it is unknown whether it was operational at the time:
You can see missiles in this 1969 image. My father had visited this site and had photos taken with the missiles when he was young.
In the wake of the retirement of Nike-Hercules missiles, this site was deactivated. I am not sure about its current status.
- Taichung (台中) HAWK site (+24° 12′ 46.99″, +120° 35′ 55.49″)
Although the image quality is poor, the unique bow-shape arrangement of this site is visible in the 1966 image:
The site in 1969:
Taichung City government built Taichung Metropolitan Park right next to the HAWK site in the late 1990s.
The entrance to the missile site as shown in Google Earth Streetview:
This concludes the series on CORONA imagery of Taiwan SAM sites.
西湖 looks liked converted to Patriot site around 2002/2003, after Nike Herc was retired in late 1990s. But no battery is seen moved into it. Possible that it’s the first of several possible Patriot sites selected back in that time frame to receive Patriot, but the funding was voted down for the last 7 years, only last year the funding was finally approved and allocated.
And the reason for ROC Army(then controlled the national SAM units) is that Taiwan government and military tend of able to shift funds from one approved project funding to others, including those completed project with excessive money. So it’s possible ROC Army shifted its fund from other projects to complete this conversion from Nike Herc to Patriot battery site prepared site. ROC Air Force did the same with “extra money” with the Tai Ping island runway construction with other projects’ funding.
I know it’s unthinkable of shifting funds from other approved projects, but that’s the way Taiwan government/military works…..
Bryan, thanks for your pointer. I think the Shihu （西湖） site indeed has been converted into a Patriot site as you mentioned.
When I wrote the post, I found that the configuration of the revetments was not the same as that in the Nike-Hercules era. After reading your comment, I checked the Google Earth imagery of Wanli (萬里）, Nangang （南港）, and Hsindien （新店） Patriot batteries. I found that they all have eight revetments, while the “new” Shihu site also eight revetments. So it may have been reconfigured for the Patriot missiles but somehow has not become operational.