Taiwan’s new indigenous supersonic anti-ship missile, the Hsiung Feng (Brave Wind) III, has failed to hit its target during a routine naval drill.

The Defence Ministry confirmed that the failure was due to a computer glitch that occurred during the drill.

“The ministry will improve on the screening of hardcore facilities … to ensure the quality of the missiles,” the ministry added.

The Hsiung Feng III missile has been designed to cruise at a maximum speed of Mach 2.0 with a range of up to 130km.

The missiles are estimated to cost Taiwanese taxpayers at least $3.45m each.

Taiwan conducted two failed missile tests earlier this year.