The PLA Rocket Force — elevated to service branch status in 2015 from the former Second Artillery Corps — is the component of Chinese military power that most directly shapes Taiwan Strait risk assessments. Its inventory of conventional ballistic and cruise missiles, built over thirty years of investment that accelerated after the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis demonstrated American carrier leverage, is the primary instrument through which China can threaten Taiwan’s military infrastructure, its population centers, and the American and allied forces that would respond to any attack. Understanding what the Rocket Force can do in the first hours of a conflict is prerequisite to understanding every other aspect of Taiwan Strait security.