Can Taiwan’s planned mobile missile squadrons counter PLA presence?
- Two-stage expansion of Hai Feng shore-based anti-ship missile group to be completed by 2026, a military source has said
- The plan is for the first mobile squadron to be based on the east coast, armed with Hsiung Feng missiles and eventually US-made Harpoons
The first squadron – to be set up in eastern Taiwan – would be armed with mobile launchers for locally developed anti-ship Hsiung Feng – or Brave Wind – missiles, while US Harpoon shore-mounted missiles would also be deployed after they were delivered, the source said on Monday, after initial reporting by Liberty Times.
“There is an urgent need to swiftly establish the mobile anti-ship squadrons there as the PLA Navy has in the past year stepped up its training and other missions in waters off Taiwan’s east coast and on its way to the western Pacific,” said the source, who requested anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity.
The formation of the missile squadrons is part of the Taiwanese navy’s plan to expand and upgrade its Hai Feng shore-based anti-ship missile group, which will be upgraded into a command role, according to the source. The two-stage expansion programme is expected to be completed by 2026.
According to a report sent to the legislature earlier this year by the island’s defence ministry, the two Hsiung Feng systems – to be supplied by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology – will have a range of 150km (93 miles).
These will be supplemented by the Harpoon missile which has a range of 250km (155 miles). The sale of US$2.73 billion worth of 100 Harpoon systems and 400 Harpoon Block II surface-launched missiles was approved by Washington in late 2020.
The Pentagon has said the missiles will provide the island with a reliable and effective system to counter maritime aggressions, coastal blockades and amphibious assaults from the People’s Liberation Army.
The periodic PLA war games close to Taiwan are continuing but at a lesser rate since their escalation in August, when the mainland military sent warships and planes to the waters off Hualien county on the island’s east coast as part of a series of mega live-fire drills.
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These were staged in retaliation for a visit to Taipei by outgoing US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which Beijing viewed as a violation of its sovereignty. The US, like most countries, does not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. Washington, however, opposes any attempt to take the island by force.
The battle group sailed through the Miyako Strait – a major waterway between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa – according to Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force.
In May, the Liaoning and seven other warships staged more than 20 days of drills just 300km off the east coast of Taiwan, putting the island’s military on high alert for a potential attack.
