Taiwan will sharply increase its arsenal of powerful anti-ship missiles to more than 1,800 by early 2029, as it seeks to enhance its capacity to counter a mounting threat of blockade or invasion by China, according to a Reuters calculation.
This expanding arsenal of weapons that can be fired from aircraft, ships and ground-based launchers is part of Taiwan's shift towards a so-called asymmetric strategy, where the island's defenders seek to offset China's massive advantage in firepower with big numbers of affordable but deadly weapons. These also include shorter-range missiles and swarms of surface and aerial drones, say current and former Taiwan military officers.
