Taiwan holds first live-fire of US high-tech rocket systems
TAIWAN: Taiwan conducted on Monday (May 12) its first live-firing of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) purchased from the United States, as the self-ruled island upgrades its capabilities to repel a potential Chinese attack.
China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the island under its control.
Taiwan would be massively outgunned in any war with China and for decades has been buying US military weapons and equipment as a deterrence against Beijing.
The first batch of 11 HIMARS were delivered to Taiwan in November.
The truck-mounted units can launch multiple precision-guided rockets at the same time, and has been used by Ukraine against Russia in their ongoing conflict.
AFP journalists watched on Monday as Taiwan's army launched rockets from the HIMARS at the Jiupeng base in southern Pingtung County.
Colonel Ho Chih-chung told reporters that US technical personnel were present during the live-fire and helped to resolve a "signal error" during the first round when the three launchers failed to fire simultaneously.
"We believe this exercise provides an opportunity to enhance our troubleshooting capabilities, allowing us to better demonstrate realistic combat readiness in the event of war," Ho said.
Washington severed official diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 in favour of Beijing, but has remained Taiwan's most important backer and arms supplier.
In the past five decades, the United States has sold Taiwan billions of dollars worth of military equipment and ammunition, including F-16 fighter jets and warships, angering China.
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