Taiwan intends to focus on the research, development and implementation of drone systems, artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies to fortify the nation’s defense, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said at a meeting with journalists on Wednesday.
As part of this initiative, Taiwan has established the Defense Innovation Team — its own version of the US’ Defense Innovation Unit — which will focus on drone development, counterdrone systems and defense applications of AI, Koo said in comments embargoed until yesterday.
This was in line with a pledge Koo made earlier this year that he would oversee a new team that would bring together the nation’s military and private companies to boost the nation’s asymmetrical warfare capabilities.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
During the meeting, Koo spoke about how this year’s national defense budget reflects the importance of asymmetric warfare and the need to invest in Taiwan’s reserves.
However, traditional military hardware is still necessary to defend against China’s “gray zone” tactics, he added.
The Defense Innovation Team would evaluate submissions from the military branches and lead a cross-ministerial process that includes the National Science and Technology Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Digital Affairs, he said.
If Taiwan lacks the necessary capabilities to implement proposals, the team would seek foreign support, having already had in-depth exchanges with its US counterpart, Koo said.
With the trend of decoupling from China, there is potential for Taiwan to produce or share production of much of the technology, he said.
Representatives from the US Department of Commerce are to visit Taiwan this month to discuss the possibility of joint production, he added.
Although the technology might not use Taiwanese branding for geopolitical reasons, Taiwan’s abilities in advanced technologies and its role in global supply chains can offer significant opportunities for dual-use goods such as drones, Koo said.
Friendly and unfriendly militaries will increasingly use drones, so the military branches would need to discuss how to effectively integrate new technologies and systems, not only in combat scenarios, but also in operational guidelines and training, Koo said.
The Army Education, Training and Doctrine Development Command has already ordered officers in charge of training to familiarize themselves with the new systems and adjust organizational structures as discussions continue and technology evolves.
China’s “gray zone” intrusions and large training exercises make it more difficult to identify when Taiwan is under threat, which means the nation’s forces might have less time to react than previously imagined, Koo said.
The minister, in rare comments about military cooperation, also said that Taiwan’s combat effectiveness has improved thanks to its deepening security partnership with the US and other friends and allies.
“In the past few years, Taiwan, the US and other friends and allies have continuously strengthened security partnerships, and continued to expand and deepen military cooperation,” he said. “This has contributed to the improvement of the national military’s combat effectiveness and regional peace and stability.”
Cooperation focuses on “substantively improving” combat effectiveness rather than just “formality,” Koo said.
“The defense ministry has never publicized this foreign military cooperation with great fanfare. This is due to taking into account the international situation and respect for our friends and allies. It is also to avoid unnecessary interference,” he added.
Koo also announced reforms to existing military training and equipment.
Close-quarters combat training would be fully implemented from next year onward, he said.
This comes after traditional bayonet drills were canceled this year following Koo’s appointment as defense minister.
Bayonet training is to remain outside of the new guidelines, he said.
The army, military police and reserves would start receiving new T112 rifles, with 86,114 units to be shipped between next year and 2028, Koo said.
Based on operational needs, the rifles are equipped with optical sights, tactical lights and lasers that help improve shooting speeds, reaction times and target acquisition, Koo said.
The Armaments Bureau is capable of meeting production targets, he said.
The bureau is also developing new ballistic plates that can withstand the Chinese military’s armor-piercing bullets, with production set to start next year.
Next year, the Armaments Bureau is to produce 25,000 T112 rifles, as well as 60,000 to 70,000 ballistic plates, bureau Deputy Director Huang Ching-pei (黃清培) said.
The bureau is also developing a new rifle which is due to be completed in March next year for testing by the military branches, Koo said.
Additional reporting by CNA and Reuters
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS