The Taipei-based United Daily News said the navy, which ordered the US-built Harpoon missiles in 2008, recently test-fired the weapons in the United States, in preparation for installing them on its two Dutch-built submarines.
Next year, the two non-ancient subs that Taiwan has will have them operational.
I was happy to note the purchase back in 2005. It is a "force multiplier" and gives America options in the early hours of a war when we might not be ready to openly help Taiwan:
If the Chinese try to invade Taiwan and at least one Taiwanese sub makes it to sea, then if Harpoons start smashing into Chinese ships, we can openly marvel at the storage capacity of the Dutch-built boat. I mean, some people might speculate that American subs are launching them, too, but that would be idle speculation best left for historians to examine decades after the Taiwanese fend off the invasion attempt.
And next year, the Taiwanese will finally deploy the missiles. Hey, no sense of urgency, eh?
