Future Barracuda-500 Missile Planned By Taiwan And Anduril Featured Locally In Wider China Security Context
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On September 17, 2025, Taiwan unveiled the Barracuda-500, its first cruise missile to be jointly manufactured with a U.S. company, as reported by Reuters. The announcement comes as China intensifies military pressure with frequent air and naval incursions around the island, fueling regional security concerns. This cooperation underscores the growing defense partnership between Taipei and Washington, reflecting Taiwan’s urgent push to strengthen deterrence. By working with U.S. defense startup Anduril Industries and ensuring domestic production, Taiwan is taking a significant step to enhance both its missile capabilities and its defense industry resilience. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The unveiling of the Barracuda-500 illustrates Taiwan’s shift toward a defense development model that blends affordability, autonomy, and international cooperation. By partnering with Anduril Industries and securing local production, Taipei has strengthened both its technological base and strategic resilience (Picture source: Army Recognition Group)
The Barracuda-500, designed by Anduril Industries, was displayed by Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) ahead of the Taipei Aerospace and Defence Technology Exhibition. It is described as an autonomous, low-cost cruise missile intended for group attacks on warships, functioning in concept similarly to exploding drones. Through technology transfer, NCSIST plans to mass produce the system in Taiwan, though no details on production timelines or volume were disclosed. The institute’s president, Li Shih-chiang, confirmed the goal of keeping the cost per missile below 6.5 million Taiwan dollars (around $216,000) and building the entire production line locally to ensure supply chain resilience in the event of a blockade.
Taiwan’s defense strategy has increasingly focused on mass production of affordable precision weapons, rather than reliance solely on costly high-end platforms. This approach reflects lessons drawn from conflicts such as Ukraine, while accounting for Taiwan’s unique vulnerability to being cut off from external reinforcements. The collaboration with Anduril mirrors practices seen in Japan and South Korea, where partnerships with Western companies have accelerated local defense capabilities.
The affordability and adaptability of the Barracuda-500 give Taiwan an option to pursue a saturation strategy, fielding larger numbers of precision munitions to counter China’s quantitative advantage. Because each missile is relatively cheap to produce and designed for mass deployment, Taipei can distribute stocks across dispersed launch units and reserve stocks, complicating an adversary’s targeting and attrition calculus. Its mobile deployment and autonomous navigation increase operational flexibility, allowing rapid relocation, shoot-and-scoot tactics and coordinated salvoes against maritime or land targets, thus strengthening Taiwan’s asymmetric defense posture and making high-value enemy assets more difficult to neutralize.
Strategically, the missile’s local production underlines Taiwan’s emphasis on self-reliance while signaling closer alignment with the United States, both technologically and politically. For Beijing, this development represents a red line, as China continues to denounce foreign involvement in Taiwan’s defense and views joint programs with American companies as a direct challenge to its claims over the island. The project therefore carries not only military but also diplomatic weight, adding new friction to already tense cross-strait relations. On a regional scale, the Barracuda-500 strengthens the emerging deterrence architecture in the Western Pacific, complementing U.S. alliances with Japan and the Philippines while also resonating with broader regional initiatives to integrate cost-effective strike capabilities into collective security frameworks.
Financially, the system’s relatively low cost makes it one of the most accessible advanced weapons in Taiwan’s arsenal. NCSIST also confirmed that it will sign two contracts and six memorandums of understanding with U.S. and Canadian companies during the defense expo. Meanwhile, President Lai Ching-te’s administration is targeting defense spending equivalent to 5% of GDP by 2030, up from a planned 3.3% next year, signaling a long-term commitment to bolstering capabilities and fostering a sustainable domestic defense industry.
The unveiling of the Barracuda-500 illustrates Taiwan’s shift toward a defense development model that blends affordability, autonomy, and international cooperation. By partnering with Anduril Industries and securing local production, Taipei has strengthened both its technological base and strategic resilience. In the face of rising tensions with China, the Barracuda-500 is more than a new weapon, it is a statement of Taiwan’s capacity to adapt, innovate, and reinforce its ties with the United States to safeguard its security and deter aggression.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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On September 17, 2025, Taiwan unveiled the Barracuda-500, its first cruise missile to be jointly manufactured with a U.S. company, as reported by Reuters. The announcement comes as China intensifies military pressure with frequent air and naval incursions around the island, fueling regional security concerns. This cooperation underscores the growing defense partnership between Taipei and Washington, reflecting Taiwan’s urgent push to strengthen deterrence. By working with U.S. defense startup Anduril Industries and ensuring domestic production, Taiwan is taking a significant step to enhance both its missile capabilities and its defense industry resilience.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The unveiling of the Barracuda-500 illustrates Taiwan’s shift toward a defense development model that blends affordability, autonomy, and international cooperation. By partnering with Anduril Industries and securing local production, Taipei has strengthened both its technological base and strategic resilience (Picture source: Army Recognition Group)
The Barracuda-500, designed by Anduril Industries, was displayed by Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) ahead of the Taipei Aerospace and Defence Technology Exhibition. It is described as an autonomous, low-cost cruise missile intended for group attacks on warships, functioning in concept similarly to exploding drones. Through technology transfer, NCSIST plans to mass produce the system in Taiwan, though no details on production timelines or volume were disclosed. The institute’s president, Li Shih-chiang, confirmed the goal of keeping the cost per missile below 6.5 million Taiwan dollars (around $216,000) and building the entire production line locally to ensure supply chain resilience in the event of a blockade.
Taiwan’s defense strategy has increasingly focused on mass production of affordable precision weapons, rather than reliance solely on costly high-end platforms. This approach reflects lessons drawn from conflicts such as Ukraine, while accounting for Taiwan’s unique vulnerability to being cut off from external reinforcements. The collaboration with Anduril mirrors practices seen in Japan and South Korea, where partnerships with Western companies have accelerated local defense capabilities.
The affordability and adaptability of the Barracuda-500 give Taiwan an option to pursue a saturation strategy, fielding larger numbers of precision munitions to counter China’s quantitative advantage. Because each missile is relatively cheap to produce and designed for mass deployment, Taipei can distribute stocks across dispersed launch units and reserve stocks, complicating an adversary’s targeting and attrition calculus. Its mobile deployment and autonomous navigation increase operational flexibility, allowing rapid relocation, shoot-and-scoot tactics and coordinated salvoes against maritime or land targets, thus strengthening Taiwan’s asymmetric defense posture and making high-value enemy assets more difficult to neutralize.
Strategically, the missile’s local production underlines Taiwan’s emphasis on self-reliance while signaling closer alignment with the United States, both technologically and politically. For Beijing, this development represents a red line, as China continues to denounce foreign involvement in Taiwan’s defense and views joint programs with American companies as a direct challenge to its claims over the island. The project therefore carries not only military but also diplomatic weight, adding new friction to already tense cross-strait relations. On a regional scale, the Barracuda-500 strengthens the emerging deterrence architecture in the Western Pacific, complementing U.S. alliances with Japan and the Philippines while also resonating with broader regional initiatives to integrate cost-effective strike capabilities into collective security frameworks.
Financially, the system’s relatively low cost makes it one of the most accessible advanced weapons in Taiwan’s arsenal. NCSIST also confirmed that it will sign two contracts and six memorandums of understanding with U.S. and Canadian companies during the defense expo. Meanwhile, President Lai Ching-te’s administration is targeting defense spending equivalent to 5% of GDP by 2030, up from a planned 3.3% next year, signaling a long-term commitment to bolstering capabilities and fostering a sustainable domestic defense industry.
The unveiling of the Barracuda-500 illustrates Taiwan’s shift toward a defense development model that blends affordability, autonomy, and international cooperation. By partnering with Anduril Industries and securing local production, Taipei has strengthened both its technological base and strategic resilience. In the face of rising tensions with China, the Barracuda-500 is more than a new weapon, it is a statement of Taiwan’s capacity to adapt, innovate, and reinforce its ties with the United States to safeguard its security and deter aggression.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
