Taiwan expected to have world’s highest density of anti-ship missiles by year end
Anti-ship missile inventory could exceed 1,400.
Taiwan is expected to have the world’s highest density of anti-ship missiles once mass production of its domestically developed Hsiung Feng missile series is completed.
Taiwan’s military is accelerating its asymmetric warfare capabilities to build a “porcupine island” defense capable of deterring invasion, per Liberty Times. As the Sea Air Combat Power Improvement Plan enters its peak production phase, mass production of the Hsiung Feng missile series is scheduled to finish by the end of this year.
A defense official told the newspaper that Taiwan will have more than 1,000 domestically produced Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by year’s end. Combined with 400 US-supplied land-based Harpoon missiles being delivered in batches, the total anti-ship missile inventory will exceed 1,400, forming the world’s densest coastal missile network, said the official.
Under the special budget, the Hsiung Feng II, Hsiung Feng III, and extended-range Hsiung Feng III are being produced by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology at roughly 200 missiles per year. The Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Sheng share a production line and yield about 131 missiles annually, while the Hsiung Feng III and its extended-range variant produce around 70 per year.
To address evolving threats, the defense ministry plans to continue producing upgraded Hsiung Feng II and III missiles under the regular defense budget, with an estimated 232 units required. These upgraded missiles will feature improved chipsets, boosting guidance accuracy and resistance to electronic interference, ensuring effectiveness even under heavy electronic warfare.
On the US procurement side, the first batch of 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems, including 400 RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II missiles, launch vehicles, and radar trucks, began arriving in Taiwan in late 2024. The military plans to acquire 32 systems and 128 missiles by 2026, with full delivery of all 400 missiles expected by 2028.
Together with domestically produced Hsiung Feng missiles, the US systems will form a layered saturation-attack network combining high- and low-capability, fast and slower missiles. To unify command, the military will establish a new littoral combatant command in July, overseeing existing Hai Feng brigades and new Harpoon-equipped units and integrating all anti-ship missiles into a single operational system.
Through multiple attack vectors and mixed supersonic and subsonic saturation strikes, the system will create what the official described as a “deadly red line” that Chinese naval task forces would find extremely difficult to cross. The official stressed that the parallel expansion of domestic and US-supplied missiles is rapidly strengthening Taiwan’s land-based anti-ship capabilities.
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