Why Taiwan put Chaparral missiles on ships

Was Chaparral a sensible shipboard surface-to-air missile for the Taiwanese Navy?

For its time, yes: it was much better than no missile and exploited a familiar, widely stocked Sidewinder family for older and smaller ships.

Chaparral supplied an air-defence capability for older and smaller Taiwanese ships when fitted as an upgrade. The assessment is tied to the period of its use, with replacement already under discussion in the recording. Its Sidewinder family connection also matters because Taiwan already held a substantial missile stockpile. Commonality can make scarce storage and support capacity serve more weapons. CAMM provides a comparison with an ambition to support multiple services, although different launch environments and missile roles limit how completely one stockpile can serve every version.