TAICHUNG, Taiwan — Taiwan's military test-fired U.S.-supplied rocket launchers into the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, the first time it has live-fired the American-made HIMARS system into the waters separating the island from mainland China, in a drill meant to show how it would try to repel an attack.
The military launched 36 rockets from "shoot-and-scoot" mobile launchers positioned along Taiwan's western coast, near areas long identified as possible landing zones for an invasion, according to NPR and other outlets. The military said it used reduced-range practice rockets that fall into the water not far from shore. After receiving a firing order, the truck-mounted launchers moved into position and fired within about three minutes, a demonstration of the mobility that makes the system hard to target.
While Taiwan had test-fired HIMARS before — including an exercise in 2025 — Wednesday's launch was the first directed into the roughly 100-mile-wide strait facing China, giving it added symbolic weight. "Due to the current enemy threat, we will continue HIMARS training with unwavering determination to protect Taiwan as the nation's strongest force," army Sgt. Wang Ming-hui said, according to NPR.
The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, made by Lockheed Martin, is a precision weapon that has been used by Ukraine against Russian forces. It has a range of about 300 kilometers (186 miles), which would put targets along the coast of China's Fujian province within reach, according to The Independent. Taiwan has acquired 29 of the systems, with 11 delivered last year and the rest expected by next year.
The drill came amid heightened tensions in the strait. China's ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing island as its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under control, while Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. The exercise followed repeated Chinese military activities around the island.
The United States, Taiwan's main arms supplier despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties, announced plans in December to sell 82 more HIMARS systems to Taiwan as part of a larger arms package. That sale appears to have been put on hold after President Donald Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing last month, according to NPR.
© 2026 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
