Taiwan's Land Sword II makes exercise debut

A mock-up of the Land Sword II missile displayed at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2023. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)

Taiwan has deployed its locally developed Land Sword II surface-to-air missile (SAM) system at the 41st iteration of its annual ‘Han Kuang' military exercise, state-owned Central News Agency (CNA) has reported.

CNA reported on 13 July that the Land Sword II SAM system was deployed by the Republic of China Army's (RoCA's) 21st Artillery Command located in Zhongli District of Taoyuan County. The RoCA deployed the SAM system during a round of the exercise, which simulated Chinese missile attack on the island's military bases and critical infrastructure. The ‘Han Kuang' exercise runs from 9 to 18 July.

According to CNA, Land Sword II, developed by the island's state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), has a range of 15 km. The Land Sword II missile launcher is mounted on a 4×4 vehicle, which has a length of 8.3 m, a width of 2.6 m, and features two rocket containers for four missiles. The system requires three people to operate, CNA added.

Taiwan initiated mass production of the Land Sword II system in 2023. Citing a RoCA spokesperson, Janes reported at the time that the service has procured six Land Sword II systems. A Land Sword II system comprises one CS/MYS-951 Battle Management Center (BMC), one CS/MPQ-951 radar unit (RU), and four to five missile firing units (MFUs). The RoCA procurement of six Land Sword II systems comprised six BMCs, six RUs, 29 MFUs, and 246 missiles.

The 21st and 43rd artillery commands of the RoCA test-fired the Land Sword II for the first time in April 2024. The system was live-fired for the first time in May 2025.