Taiwan Conducts Live-Fire Drill, Aims Rockets at China

Taiwan test-fired Lockheed Martin’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) precision weapon during a live-fire military exercise in Taichung on Wednesday (10/6/2026), simulating an enemy invasion. The drill marked the first time the weapon was fired from the island’s west coast facing China, following its initial test launch off the east coast last year.

The Taiwanese government is modernising its armed forces by adding new, more mobile weapons and making its training less predictable to better reflect actual combat situations. The HIMARS, one of Ukraine’s primary strike systems used extensively in the war with Russia, has a range of approximately 300 km (190 miles), enabling it to strike coastal targets in China’s southern Fujian province across the Taiwan Strait.

The weapon will also be used alongside Taiwan’s domestically produced Thunderbolt-2000 launchers, allowing Chinese forces to be targeted as they leave ports or attempt to land on Taiwan’s beaches.