Overview
- Taiwan fired U.S.-supplied HIMARS into the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday using reduced-range training rockets that fell into nearby waters to avoid wider escalation.
- The west-coast drill at Taichung highlighted shoot-and-scoot tactics in which launchers fire quickly and relocate to reduce the chance of being targeted by enemy radar.
- HIMARS is a truck-mounted precision rocket system with about a 300 km range that can reach coastal areas of Fujian province and target ships or landing sites from mainland ports.
- The U.S. announced in December plans to sell 82 more HIMARS to Taiwan but recent reports say that sale is on hold after President Trump met Xi Jinping, leaving future deliveries uncertain.
- The test is part of a wider asymmetric defence push to make any invasion costly and could influence regional military planning and risks to critical supply chains such as semiconductor production.