Taiwan has unveiled its first missile made with a US company, Reuters reported.
It is a major step in the rapidly developing defense cooperation between Taipei and Washington to counter the military threat from China.
The democratically-ruled island is rushing to strengthen its armed forces as China, which claims it as its territory, steps up its military pressure - holding military exercises and regularly sending fighter jets and ships into the skies and waters nearby.
In June, Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said he would deepen security cooperation with the United States and that the island would develop and produce weapons together with them. The United States is the island's most important international supporter and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Ahead of the Aerospace and Defense Technology Expo in Taipei, the military's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) unveiled the Barracuda-500, an autonomous, low-cost cruise missile designed by American defense technology startup Anduril Industries.
NCSIST said it plans to mass-produce the missile in Taiwan through technology transfer, designed for group attacks on warships and similar to exploding drones.
"This is a new endeavor. "Our goal is to build our own defense capabilities more quickly and efficiently by incorporating the latest technologies," said NCSIST Director Li Shi-chan.
Taiwan's goal is to build the entire production line locally and keep the cost of a missile below NT$6.5 million ($216,493), Li said.
"If hostilities break out, if we face a blockade, we are not like Ukraine - which has the European continent to provide a constant and uninterrupted flow of reinforcements," he noted. "All our resilience must be built on this island".
Lee said NCSIST will sign two contracts and six memorandums of understanding with six unspecified US and Canadian companies during the three-day trade fair that opens tomorrow.
Taiwan has set a goal of spending 5% of its GDP on defense by 2030, up from a target of 3.3% next year, and is seeking greater international support beyond that of the United States.