Patriots at the Park

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Woodland patterned Patriot missiles canted skywards as Republic of China Air Force operators wolfed down boxed meals for dinner nearby. Downrange of the multi-million dollar missiles was the Taipei 101, the island’s tallest building.

Aside from a few armed guards, traffic cones were the only thing separating the two launchers and $75 million worth of missiles from parkgoers, bikers, joggers and curious onlookers. Yellow stripes and squares on the canisters showed that they carried live munitions. The riverside park began to darken as day turned to dusk.

Parked at the entryway of a pedestrian bridge spanning the Xindian river, the Patriots were a part of a Republic of China Air Force Patriot surface-to-air missile battery deployed for Han Kuang 42, island-wide anti-invasion drills. While these launchers were positioned within 20 meters of each other, the battery spread out its remaining systems across both banks of the river at greater intervals.

The Air Force battery fielded a mix of Patriot Advanced Capability 2 and 3 missiles on their launchers. These interceptors have been the backbone of Washington’s air defense capability and support amid recent conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. While proven to be effective in engaging inbound ballistic and cruise missiles, American and allied stocks have been strained within the last four years.

Patriot launchers equipped with 16 PAC-3 and 4 PAC-2 missiles, Aug. 6, 2026. USNI News photo Shortages of these valuable interceptors would prove detrimental in a Taiwan contingency operation, which could see thousands of Beijing’s missiles and aircraft strike the island. If a conflict occurred, Taiwanese planners will face a difficult air defense picture. Located 110 miles away from the mainland, all of Taipei’s bases and infrastructure are within striking range of most Chinese missile forces.

At 2026’s iteration of the island-wide anti-invasion drills, Republic of China Army and Air Force units staged at riverside parks across Taipei to simulate a multi-layered defensive operation of the island’s capital.

Air Defenses of Taipei

Compared to the American Patriot launchers, Taiwan’s domestically-made Sky Bow III missiles had a distinctive 90-degree vertical deployment scheme. Deployed to a park on the south bank of the Keelung River, the launchers and camouflage netting greatly contrasted the gray cement.

A nearby unit of Republic of China Marines positioned their 20mm cannon Humvees against a shrub-covered flood wall to the Air Force unit’s rear. Their presence provided force protection for the battery, which could be sabotaged in a conflict by special operations troops, infiltrators and fifth columnists.

In contrast to the Patriot operators, these Air Force missileers were more reserved. For Han Kuang, their unit was placed within a grouping of critical government facilities and military installations. Adjacent to the battery’s location were the Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese military service branches’ headquarters and bridges leading to the Heng Shan Military Command Center. Chinese forces already practice targeting mock-ups representing these important Taiwanese facilities.

In the initial hours of a conflict between China and Taiwan, the People’s Liberation Army plans to put into practice a concept known as the “Joint Firepower Strike Campaign.” According to Chinese military reports and state media, the plan involves the coordination of the PLA Ground Force, Rocket Force, Air Force and Navy to destroy and suppress nodes of Taiwanese resistance through concentrated strikes.

A Republic of China Army Avenger Air Defense System overlooks a valley near an Air Force Patriot base, Aug. 7, 2026. USNI News photo Aside from protecting airfields, ground units and key infrastructure, Taiwanese SAM batteries will also have to contend with a concentrated Chinese effort to degrade and destroy them. Taiwan will face a significant suppression of enemy air defense campaign from Chinese air and missile forces, according to a June report from the China Aerospace Studies Institute, a U.S. Air Force think tank dedicated to the study of Beijing’s aerial forces.

Fielded in the mid-2010s, the TK-3 forms the frontline of Taiwan’s air defense in the coming decades. Taipei fields a dozen batteries, with the newer systems replacing recently decommissioned American HAWK missiles and older iterations of Sky Bow.

TK-3 was also the focus of special defense budgets pushed by the previous Tsai Ing-Wen Administration to increase missile production. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense claims that the island’s national arms industries can produce up to 96 of the missiles annually.

Local media reported additional TK-3s across the Taipei Metropolitan Area at similar riverside parks. Constrained by the numerous skyscrapers and mountainous terrain, Taiwanese air defense forces needed to place their launchers and radars on terrain that allowed for unobscured firings and tracking.

Around Taipei, Republic of China Army Avenger Air Defense Systems were stationed at key positions in defense of installations, artillery units and the Air Force’s longer-ranged missiles. This Cold War-era system wields eight FIM-92 Stingers and a heavy machine gun within a turreted Humvee.

Taiwanese ground forces handled short-range air defense duties while the aerial branch tackled medium to long-range interception missions. In recent years, the importance of SHORAD has been reinforced as a result of unmanned aerial systems and cruise missile threats. Layering these systems around Taipei can also help defeat helicopter infiltration attempts akin to those seen at Hostomel and Caracas.

Aside from rehearsing air defense deployments at optimal locations and layering with other assets, Taiwanese forces also practiced distributed logistics and redeployment of their surface-to-air missile launchers.

Going forward, Taipei wants to bolster its network with new Strong Bow ballistic missile defense interceptors and the Taiwan-Dome air defense system. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te highlighted the need for more robust air detection and defense coordination to counter increased Chinese aerial activity around the island.