Taiwan test fires new US-supplied HIMARS rocket system for first time
Taiwan on Monday test-fired for the first time a new US-supplied rocket system that has been widely used by Ukraine against Russia and could be deployed to hit targets in China if there is a war with Taiwan.
The US is Taiwan's most important arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties. Taiwan has faced increased military pressure from China, including several rounds of war games, as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims over the island.
Taiwan has bought 29 of Lockheed Martin's precision weapon High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, with the first batch of 11 received last year and the rest set to arrive by next year.
With a range of about 300km, they could hit coastal targets in China's southern province of Fujian, on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, in the event of conflict.
The US-trained Taiwan military team fired the rockets from the Jiupeng test centre on a remote part of the Pacific coast.
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