Taiwan will soon be able to produce more than three times as many Hsiung Feng III missiles as before.
Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng says the extra production capacity is down to a new array of mass production factories currently under construction. According to a defense ministry report, those factories are set to be finished in June this year.
In January, Taiwan’s Legislature approved a special budget for buying defensive weapons. That budget adds up to NT$236.95 billion (US$8.55 billion) over the next five years. The defense ministry says some of the money will go towards supporting production of Taiwan-made missiles, like the Hsiung Feng III.
In recent years, Taiwanese authorities have been trying to make Taiwan less reliant on weapons bought from allies like the United States. Instead, President Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan should be more self-reliant and build and develop its own defensive weapons.