By Jia Feimao | 2026-07-23

Taiwan's domestically developed Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) supersonic antiship missile has completed its first live fire air-launch test from an Indigenous Defense Fighter, adding another strike option to the weapon known as the "carrier killer."

Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology July 1 confrimed that the air-launched HF-3 variant, developed under the code name Hsiung Zhi Project, completed live fire testing off Jiupeng on Taiwan's southeast coast. Land- and ship-launched versions are already in service and have a range of about 150 to 200km.

China's Fujian aircraft carrier, equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system, entered service last November. Its carrier-based aircraft have a combat radius exceeding 400km, which potentially allows strikes from beyond Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone, Shu Hsiao-huang, an associate research fellow at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told Global Views Monthly.

Extending missile reach

In contrast, Taiwan's land- and ship-launched HF-3 missiles have a range of about 150 to 200km, creating what Shu described as a "range gap." Mounting the HF-3 on fighter aircraft extends its reach and could help cover areas beyond the range of ground-based missile systems, he said.

Although the air-launched variant may carry a somewhat lighter warhead, an impact at roughly three times the speed of sound would still be capable of severely damaging a large surface vessel, Shu said.

HF-3 missiles launched from land or sea are less mobile and harder to conceal than weapons carried by aircraft are, Su Tzu-yun, director of the Division of Defense Strategy and Resources at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told Focus.

"The missile's own range, combined with the fighter jet's combat radius, lets it fly at extremely low altitude to evade enemy detection and strike from unpredictable directions," Su said.

The fighter's initial altitude and speed reduce the energy the missile needs, helping extend its overall range, said Su.

The air-launched variant could eventually be integrated with Taiwan's existing land- and ship-launched HF-3 missiles, as well as with drones, to swarm Chinese naval formations from multiple, unpredictable directions, said Su.

Large numbers of slow drones could divert air defense fire while faster HF-3 missiles deliver the lethal blow, he said. Ideally, the two would work together to achieve a "time on target" effect, maximizing firepower for an instantaneous, devastating strike on enemy ships.

The air-launched HF-3 had to be scaled down to accommodate the fighter aircraft's payload limits. Because an aircraft fires it, it does not need the two boosters required by the land- and ship-launched versions. Eliminating boosters cuts the missile's weight from 1,500kg to about 900kg.

Taiwan's asymmetric arsenal

Antiship missiles are a key part of Taiwan's "asymmetric warfare" arsenal, seen as critical to countering a Chinese invasion or blockade. Reuters in June estimated Taiwan's antiship missile stockpile will reach 1,850 by early 2029, including 850 U.S.-made Harpoon missiles and about 1,000 domestically produced HF-2 and HF-3 missiles.

Unlike the subsonic Harpoon and HF-2 missiles, the supersonic HF-3 cruises at about Mach 2.5 and can reach a top speed of Mach 3. Once an enemy ship's radar detects an incoming HF-3, it has less than 30 seconds before impact.

"The Harpoon is subsonic and easy to intercept; the HF-3 can penetrate defenses at 2.5 Mach," Chang Cheng, former chief engineer of the HF-3 program, wrote on Facebook in December. The supersonic capability, which even active U.S. military hardware lacks, makes the air-launched HF-3 tactically irreplaceable, he said.

Besides being a nightmare for enemy ships, the HF-3 poses a formidable threat to air defense systems along the southeastern Chinese coast, China's state-run Global Times reported back in 2016, citing analysts. Its likely ability to fly at extremely low altitude and to lock onto targets at close range gives those systems only one chance to intercept it.

Proven by accident

The HF-3 has never seen combat, but an accidental firing in 2016 offered a stark, real-world proof of concept.

A crew member accidentally set the missile system to live combat mode during a drill, and the HF-3 headed toward a simulated target 74km away. It struck a fishing vessel, killing the captain and injuring three crew members.

The boat's destruction, though tragic, demonstrated the missile's capabilities. The vessel had a small cross-section and was made of carbon fiber. Both factors made it a more difficult target than a warship would be for a missile.

A Ministry of National Defense source, speaking to Defense News at the time, called the HF-3 "very efficient."