TSOYING, Taiwan — Taiwan conducted a littoral combat drill on Saturday incorporating the Bali, an Anping-class coast guard frigate loaded with Hsiung Feng anti-ship missile launchers. The drill simulated the defense of the island's southwest coast against an amphibious landing, blending coast guard assets with naval missile boats and attack drones.
The Bali is one of twelve recently commissioned 750-ton vessels built on a catamaran hull for stability in the Taiwan Strait. During peacetime, the ships perform patrol duties. In a conflict, each can be fitted within hours with up to 16 containerized box launchers for the domestically produced Hsiung Feng II and III missiles, effectively creating an auxiliary navy of 192 ready launch tubes.
Taiwan's strategy relies on dispersing lethal capability across ostensibly civilian agencies, complicating an adversary's targeting calculus while keeping the main battle fleet concentrated.
The drill featured the Bali holding station at Tsoying Port as four Kuang-6 missile boats executed a rapid sortie, observed by President Lai Ching-te. This operational posture reflects Taiwan's response to sustained gray-zone pressure from Beijing's own extensive maritime militia and coast guard fleet, which analysts note can quickly supplement People's Liberation Army Navy operations.
For American policy, the display underscores the asymmetric defense investments Taipei continues to make. The fully equipped Anping class represents a significant, mobile anti-access capability concentrated in a narrow waterway critical to global semiconductor supply chains. While the United States maintains no formal defense treaty obligation to Taiwan, the continued arming of the island under the Taiwan Relations Act directly impacts the strategic risk calculus American taxpayers underwrite in the Indo-Pacific.