In the late 1950s, China bombed for weeks the Taiwanese islands of Kinmen and Matsu with hundreds of thousands of projectiles to test the resolve of Taiwan and the United States. That crisis turned the Taiwan Strait into one of the most dangerous points of the Cold War and left a mark that still conditions military planning on both sides.
From drills to real preparations. China has been rehearsing scenarios of blockade, landing and invasion around Taiwan. Its ships and planes operate constantly around the island and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to achieve reunification.
In the face of this growing pressure, Taiwan has given an unprecedented step: for the first time you have used your HIMARS rocket launcher in live fire from the western coast of the island, precisely in an area considered one of the most likely places for a Chinese landing. More than just a test, the exercise represented a shift in focus from training away from a potential battlefield to practicing how to stop an invasion right where it might occur.
The directed message. The demonstration had an obvious strategic significance. HIMARS were deployed facing the strait from Taiwan and launched dozens of rockets from a position near a possible landing area. The implicit message is that any Chinese amphibious force attempting to cross the strait would have to face a volume of fire capable of destroying shipstroop concentrations and support points before even reaching the coast.
For years, China has shown in your own exercises how it would attack Taiwanese defenses; now Taiwan is showing how it would try to scuttle an invasion before it can take hold.
US weapons at the center of strategy. The HIMARS have become one of the pillars of the new Taiwanese defense. The system, popularized by his performance in Ukrainecombines mobility, precision and survivability. Taiwan already has missiles capable of hitting targets on the Chinese mainland coast and has received authorization to significantly expand its arsenal with new launchers and hundreds of ATACMS missiles.
The acquisition is part of a strategy designed to compensate the enormous Chinese military superiority through relatively small, mobile and difficult-to-destroy weapons that can inflict disproportionate damage on a much larger invading force.
Himars
The “porcupine” doctrine. Taiwan’s military transformation seeks to turn the island into a extremely expensive target to conquer Instead of trying to match the size of the Chinese military, Taipei is betting on an asymmetric defense based on mobile, dispersed and difficult to locate systems. HIMARS fit perfectly into that philosophy.
Their ability to fire and rapidly change position reduces the risk of being detected and destroyed by radar or retaliatory attacks, allowing them to continue operating even in the midst of a high-intensity conflict.
The beaches where war could be decided. The exercises were carried out on the west coast because there are many of the beaches and plains coastal areas considered more suitable for a Chinese amphibious operation. For years, military strategists identify these areas as the points where an invasion would have the best chance of success.
In fact, for this reason Taiwan no longer wants to limit itself to training in testing fields far from the potential front. The goal is to familiarize units with the actual terrain, rehearse rapid deployments and see how weapons systems would respond in the same areas they would have to defend under enemy fire.
Washington watches. The demonstration was not only aimed at China. Taiwan also wanted to send a signal to the United States at a time when remains blocked a major military aid package worth billions of dollars. The Taiwanese authorities are trying to show that they are willing to take an active part of its own defense and that the weapons supplied by Washington are being integrated into concrete plans to resist aggression.
In a context of debate about the American commitment to the island’s security, each exercise also serves to reinforce the argument that Taiwan is seriously preparing to fight if the worst-case scenario arrives.
An increasingly visible war. The symbolic importance of these maneuvers It goes beyond the rockets launched. For years, Chinese exercises have revolved around how to isolate, surround and eventually invade Taiwan. The Taiwanese exercises are evolving in parallel toward a different question: how to destroy an invading force before it can establish itself on the ground.
The appearance of HIMARS on western beaches reflects precisely that change. It is not just about showing a new weapon, but rather about rehearse an answer It specifies the military scenario that most worries the island and that increasingly determines the security of the entire Indo-Pacific region.
Image | X, US Army
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