Taichung, TaiwanAP —
Taiwan’s military on Wednesday fired rockets in the direction of China from a mobile launcher called “Shoot” in a demonstration of how to repel Chinese attacks.
The U.S.-provided system, known as HIMARS, has been tested before, but the live-fire exercise was the first time rockets were fired into the waters of the narrow Taiwan Strait that separates the autonomous island from China.
“Due to current enemy threats, we will continue our HIMARS training with unwavering determination to defend Taiwan as the nation’s most powerful force,” said Army Sgt. Wang Minghui said.
The military said it used a training rocket with a reduced range that does not travel very far from the coast before falling into the sea.
China views Taiwan as a rebel province and insists it needs to take control of the island at some point in the future. It sends warships and aircraft into the air and sea near the island almost every day, and in recent years has held large-scale military exercises near the island. Although the United States does not recognize Taiwan as a country, it opposes changing Taiwan’s status by force, and is a major supplier of weapons for Taiwan’s defense.
HIMARS, short for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, is part of a U.S.-encouraged strategic shift toward an asymmetric approach designed to keep China at bay, rather than trying to confront it head-on with expensive weapons purchases. A rocket pod mounted on a truck can be forced out of a hidden position, fire a missile, and then quickly move to a new hiding spot in a so-called “shoot-and-scoot” tactic.
They were fired on the second day of exercises off Taiwan’s west coast facing China. The exercise also included a 155mm howitzer and was designed to simulate a response to a Chinese invasion and test rapid deployment and precision strike capabilities.
HIMARS was the center of training. After receiving the launch command, the vehicle maneuvered into position and fired the rocket with a bright flash within three minutes, demonstrating its maneuverability.
In December, the United States announced plans to sell 82 more HIMARS systems to Taiwan as part of a major arms deal, but those plans appear to have been put on hold after President Donald Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing last month.
