Taiwan begins building prototype missile boat

A Taiwanese shipbuilding company commissioned by the Navy has begun building a prototype missile boat for Taiwan, as part of the country's efforts to counter the military threat from China, a defense official said Monday.

The prototype will be around 450 tons, Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu said in the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, but declined to discuss any further details of the project.

He was responding to a legislator's question on whether the prototype will be outfitted with locally developed anti-ship missiles, the Hsiung Feng (Brave Wind) III and Hsiung Feng II, as reported in the local media.

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