Taiwan deploys advanced US HIMARS rockets in annual drills

By Ann Wang

TAICHUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) -Taiwan's military began deploying one of its newest and most precise strike weapons on Saturday, ahead of live-fire drills meant to showcase the island's determination to resist any Chinese invasion.

Two armoured trucks with HIMARS - High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems - were seen manoeuvring around the city of Taichung near Taiwan's central coast on the fourth of 10 days of its most comprehensive annual exercises yet.

The live-fire portion of the Han Kuang drills is expected next week.

In wartime, said Colonel Chen Lian-jia, a military spokesperson, it would be vital to conceal HIMARS from enemy aerial reconnaissance, satellites "or even enemy operatives behind our lines" until the order to fire was given.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has intensified military pressure around the island over the last five years, staging a string of intense war games and daily naval and air force patrols around the territory.

Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims, with President Lai Ching-te saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

China's defence ministry said this week the Han Kuang drills were "nothing but a bluff" while its foreign ministry said its opposition to U.S.-Taiwan military ties was "consistent and very firm".

Regional military attaches say the HIMARS deployment in a warlike exercise will be closely watched, given that they have been used extensively by Ukraine against Russian forces. Australia has also purchased the Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) systems.

Taiwan took delivery last year of the first 11 of 29 HIMARS units, testing them for the first time in May. With a range of about 300 km (190 miles), the weapons could strike coastal targets in China's southern province of Fujian on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwanese military analysts say the weapon would be used with its locally developed Thunderbolt 2000 launchers so Chinese forces could be targeted as they left port or attempted to land on Taiwan's coast. A Thunderbolt unit was also seen in a park near the HIMARS units.

Senior Taiwanese military officials say the Han Kuang drills are unscripted and designed to replicate full combat conditions, starting with simulated enemy attacks on communications and command systems, leading to a full-blown invasion scenario.

The drills aim to show China and the international community, including Taiwan's key weapons supplier the U.S., that Taiwan is determined to defend itself against any Chinese attack or invasion, the officials say.

(Reporting By Ann Wang in Taichung; Writing by Greg Torode in Taipei; Editing by William Mallard)