The US Department of State on Sunday supported Taiwan’s commitment to raising its defense spending, emphasizing that the US’ top priority is to safeguard stability in the Taiwan Strait and ensure Taiwan has sufficient self-defense capabilities.
In his Double Ten National Day address on Friday last week, President William Lai (賴清德) said that Taiwan would use its new defense budget to accelerate the development of the “T-Dome,” a multilayered air defense system designed to counter growing military pressure from China.
Lai added that defense spending would reach 5 percent of GDP by 2030 to demonstrate Taiwan’s commitment to self-defense.
Photo: screen shot from Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology video
The US Department of State responded by saying it strongly supports Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen its defense and deterrence through reforms and raising military spending.
The department said it welcomes Lai’s announcement that Taiwan plans to increase defense spending to more than 3 percent of GDP this year and 5 percent by 2030.
The US’ top priority is to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and it would continue to uphold the Taiwan Relations Act to ensure Taiwan has sufficient self-defense capabilities to deal with the threats it faces, it said.
In Taipei yesterday, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said the “T-Dome” air defense system would establish a more efficient and integrated “sensor-to-shooter” mechanism for a higher kill rate, with a year-end special budget to propose specific spending on the system.
“If you do achieve integration, the probability of successful interception naturally increases, and you can conduct firepower coordination with greater efficiency and better resource allocation,” Koo said.
“Sensor-to-shooter” is something the US military has been focusing on, including with the Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control concept to connect sensors and shooters into one single system.
Taiwan’s existing surface-to-air defense systems are centered around the US-built Patriot and Taiwan-made Sky Bow missiles, as well as Stinger missiles for low-level intercepts. Taiwan is also developing the Chiang-Kong missile for high-altitude interception.
“If we don’t integrate anti-missile, anti-air and anti-drone capabilities, we won’t be able to achieve efficient interception. We will prioritize procurement that emphasizes mobility and high survivability,” Koo said.
A special budget to come by the end of the year would focus on new equipment for the “T-Dome,” he said.
“T-Dome” also fits into Taiwan’s asymmetric approach to warfare to make its forces, which are much smaller than China’s, agile and able to pack a greater and more targeted punch, Koo said.
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