Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday.
Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last year.
Photo: Bloomberg
The hellscape strategy refers to utilizing uncrewed aerial vehicles, boats, submersibles and loitering munitions to conduct saturation strikes or precision attacks against high-value targets to attrit or paralyze the PLA invasion fleet, the official said.
Such attacks are cost-effective, require a comparatively small number of troops and could potentially overwhelm the defensive systems of a larger adversary, they said.
As the Sea-Air Combat Power Improvement comes to a close, the Ministry of National Defense is mulling significant investments in creating a domestic capability to sustain the mass production of uncrewed vehicles, components, guidance kits and related pyrotechnics, the official said.
Observations of foreign conflicts suggest that modern warfare consumes uncrewed vehicles and loitering munitions at rates that strain the capabilities of any defense industrial base, they added.
The military tentatively plans to develop four types of combat drones consisting of a short-ranged direct attack model, a loitering munition model, a vertical takeoff and horizontal airlift-capable model, and a cost-effective type with capabilities comparable to guided missiles, they said.
The ministry would also place thousands of additional AeroVironment Switchblade 300 and Anduril Altius-600M orders from the US to complement planned indigenous systems, the official said.
Officials have yet to determine if drones would be funded via a special program or as part of the ministry’s recurring budget, they added.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
Taipei resident Mu Chu-hua caught some glimpses of China’s mighty military parade on YouTube on Wednesday. As she watched hypersonic missiles roll down Beijing’s Changan Avenue and troops march in lockstep, she did not feel like they posed a threat to Taiwan. Mu, a 69-year-old retiree, said she saw the parade as simply a way for Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to “say thank you to the troops.” “I thought it was quite normal,” she said. “It was very cool.” China’s military parade commemorating the end of World War II was being watched internationally for insights into Beijing’s military advances and its show
RSS