Taiwan has lived under a constant threat for decades. Many analysts see the chance that China will one day try to annex the island by force not as a question of “if”, but of “when”. That reality forces Taipei into hard choices. While diplomacy and international support remain important, Taiwan knows one thing for sure: in a real crisis, it cannot rely completely on foreign deliveries. The lesson Ukraine has taught the world is clear. Those who do not have their own defence industry in order will sooner or later get into trouble.
Ukraine showed how fickle international support can be. Deliveries are delayed, political demands pile up and countries hold back equipment because they need it themselves. Taiwan is watching this with suspicion. The answer is a strategy increasingly followed worldwide: maximum focus on domestic production, especially of weapons that are needed in large numbers and must be quickly deployable. Drones, missiles and air defence are central. In that context, the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile has become one of the most important pillars of Taiwan’s defence.
Image: even patrol ships are fitted with these missiles. The F-16 fighter jets are also being equipped with them.
The Hsiung Feng III is not a symbolic project or a parade piece. It is a serious weapon system, developed to exploit one specific Chinese vulnerability: its dependence on sea control. A possible invasion of Taiwan can only succeed if China manages to bring enormous numbers of troops, vehicles and supplies across the Taiwan Strait by ship. Those ships are large, relatively vulnerable and an attractive target. That is exactly what the HF-3 is designed for.
It is a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile that accelerates very quickly after launch to several times the speed of sound. Unlike older subsonic missiles, that gives enemy air defence hardly any time to react. Moreover, the missile flies low over the sea and can make unexpected course changes in the terminal phase, making interception even harder. This is not a weapon meant to deter symbolically; it is designed to break through modern layers of defence and damage large naval ships. The Netherlands is also getting a new anti-ship missile this year; it is not supersonic, but it has other qualities.
What makes the Hsiung Feng III extra relevant is the scale on which Taiwan wants to deploy it. The country builds the missile itself and is deliberately scaling up production. This avoids exactly the problem Ukraine ran into: dependence on political decision-making in other capitals. Taiwan decides for itself how many missiles it produces, where they are stored and when they are used. That gives strategic freedom in a situation where every day can count.
In recent years the country has enormously increased its missile production capacity. Under a special modernisation programme running until 2026, Taiwan has set itself the goal of being able to make thousands of missiles a year, including hundreds of anti-ship missiles. The plan includes about seventy Hsiung Feng IIIs a year from the production lines, alongside hundreds of other types of missiles for air defence, ground attack and drones. This is part of a broader strategy to produce more than a thousand different missiles by 2026, a significant share of them supersonic anti-ship versions, well above what was possible in earlier years. That production is not just planned — it is already being carried out, and some targets have even been met earlier than expected, showing how hard Taiwan is working to strengthen its own manufacturing industry.
The latest developments around the missile show that Taiwan is thinking beyond coastal defence alone. Work is under way on variants with greater range, so that Chinese ships can be threatened well outside the immediate vicinity of the island. In addition, experiments are under way with different launch platforms. Mobile launchers on land make the system hard to find and destroy, while use from naval ships and possibly even aircraft makes the threat picture more complex for China. Every extra launch option increases uncertainty on the other side of the strait.
It is also important how the HF-3 fits into a broader global trend. The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are investing heavily in their own drone production. South Korea is not only developing tanks and artillery, but building a complete defence industry that exports worldwide. Everywhere there is a growing realisation that weapons used in large numbers must not depend on fragile international supply chains. Taiwan is not lagging behind in this, but leading the way.
Video: this is how the missiles are moved by road.
Will the Hsiung Feng III stop China if it really comes to war? Probably not. China has overwhelming numerical and industrial superiority. But that is not the primary aim either. The strength of this weapon lies in raising the costs, risks and uncertainties for Beijing. Every Chinese planner must take into account dozens, perhaps hundreds, of supersonic missiles that can strike unexpectedly. That makes quick, clean solutions impossible and increases the chance that an attack turns into a long and costly conflict.
For Taiwan, that is exactly the point. In a world where international support is never guaranteed, domestic defence production forms the last line of defence. The Hsiung Feng III is its symbol: fast, independently produced and designed for the kind of conflict Taiwan fears most. It is no wonder weapon, but it is a clear signal. Taiwan is preparing for a future in which it must above all be able to rely on itself.
