Taiwan arms fighter with supersonic missile to hit Chinese ships

Taiwan, a self-governed island threatened by China, has recently developed and tested a supersonic missile for sinking invading vessels that can be launched by fighter aircraft.

Newsweek has emailed the Chinese and Taiwanese defense ministries for comment.

Why It Matters

The Chinese communist government has claimed that Taiwan, which is a democracy and a security partner of the United States, is its territory despite never having ruled the island. It has warned that it reserves all options against Taiwan, including the use of force.

Taiwan’s development of a new missile comes as Elbridge Colby, who is U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, suggested the island should spend more on defense, closer to 10 percent of its gross domestic product.

What to Know

Taiwan’s United Daily News first reported the air-launched version of the Hsiung Feng III (HF III) on February 21. The missile, which can fly at Mach 3.5, or three and a half times faster than the speed of sound, can be deployed on ships and mobile trailers.

A pair of the HF III missiles, dubbed aircraft carrier killers by the Taiwanese public, were armed on an F-CK-1 Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) aircraft while on the ground at that time. A photo surfaced on Friday shows an IDF jet flew with the missiles for the first time.

Taiwanese specialist website IDF Ching-Kuo said the air-launched missile, developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) since 2022, can attack ships effectively via the maneuverability and extended range of the fighter aircraft.

According to the NCSIST, the HF III missile, which has a range of over 62 miles and armor-piercing capability, can reach the target by flying at supersonic speed and as close as possible to the surface of the sea, reducing the response time of the enemy’s defense systems.

By launching from different platforms and in different paths, multiple HF III missiles can attack the same target simultaneously and saturate the target’s defense systems, it added.

China, which has the largest navy in the world by hull count, with more than 370 vessels, has dispatched its ships around Taiwan on a daily basis for patrols and exercises. They have included large warships such as an aircraft carrier and an amphibious assault ship.

What People Are Saying

Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology said: “The HF III supersonic anti-ship missile adopts the advanced design of Integrated Rocket Ramjet (IRR). It can minimize the size and weight of the missile. And also increase the operational flexibility and capacity of deployment on launching platform.”

The War Zone, a U.S. specialist outlet, said in an article on February 25: “If a war with China were to break out, anti-ship missiles of all kinds would be absolutely critical in providing Taiwan with any hope of slowing an all-out advance by the People’s Liberation Army Navy. As such, the continued effort to field a more capable air-launched anti-ship missile is increasingly seen as a necessary deterrent as tensions between Taipei and Beijing continue.”

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen when the HF III’s air-launched version will become operational as China continues to exert military pressure on Taiwan and expand its naval fleet rapidly.