By Yimou Lee and Fabian Hamacher
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan unveiled its first missile to be jointly manufactured with a U.S. company on Wednesday, marking a major step in the fast-growing defence cooperation between Taipei and Washington to counter China's military threat.
Democratically-governed Taiwan is racing to bolster its armed forces as China, which views the island as its own territory, steps up its military pressure, including staging war games and regularly sending warplanes and warships into
nearby skies and waters.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said in June he would deepen security cooperation with the U.S. and the island would jointly develop and manufacture weapons. The U.S. is the island's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
Ahead of the Taipei Aerospace and Defence Technology Exhibition, the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) put on display Barracuda-500, an autonomous, low-cost cruise missile designed by U.S. defence technology startup Anduril Industries.
The NCSIST said that through technology transfer, it plans to mass produce in Taiwan the missile, designed for group attacks on warships and similar to exploding drones.
The NCSIST declined to offer details such as a timeline for production, or expected volume.
"This is a new endeavour. We aim to build our own defence capabilities more swiftly and efficiently, incorporating the latest technologies," NCSIST president Li Shih-chiang told Reuters.
Anduril Industries did not respond to a request for comment sent outside of U.S. business hours.
Taiwan's goal is to build the entire production line locally and to keep the cost per missile below T$6.5 million ($216,493), Li said.
"Should hostilities break out, should we face blockade, we are not like Ukraine - which still has the European continent to provide a steady, uninterrupted flow of reinforcements," he said. "All our resilience must be built upon this island."
Li said the NCSIST will sign two contracts and six Memorandums of Understanding with six unspecified U.S. and Canadian companies during the three-day trade show that opens on Thursday.
Taiwan has set a goal of spending 5% of its GDP on defence by 2030, up from a target of 3.3% next year, and is keen for greater international support aside from the United States.
($1 = 30.0240 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting By Yimou Lee and Fabian HamacherAdditional reporting by Ben BlanchardEditing by Frances Kerry)
