Sky Bow
surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile
The Sky Bow, or Tien Kung (Chinese: 天弓; pinyin: Tiān gōng), are a series of surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile and anti-aircraft defense systems developed by Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST). Development of the TK-1 was completed in 1986 and this system is now retired. The TK-2, TK-3 and TK-4 are in service with the Military of the Republic of China.
Development
Research into what became the Sky Bow project began after the United States ended bilateral relations with the Republic of China in 1979. Other names proposed by chief engineer Chen Chuan-hao for the project included Sky Horse (Pegasus) and Flying Horse. Upon formal approval of the project in October 1980, it became known as Sky Bow. Under the influence of aerospace engineer and rocket scientist Huang Hsiao-tsung the project expanded to include testing of ramjet motors. In 1981 the project received increased support from minister of defense Sung Chang-chih and was expanded into a general purpose air defense project benchmarked to the American Patriot and Soviet 2K12 Kub. Sung set a seven year deadline for the project. The first test flight in 1982 ended in failure as did other early test flights.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Sky Bow” as surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4301459. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1986, 1979, 1980 and 1981.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Sky Bow”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Sky Bow primary sources, Sky Bow archive and surface-to-air research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Sky Bow” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.