TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is learning valuable lessons from Ukraine’s effective defense against Russian forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday (May 16).

"One of those lessons is that with asymmetric capabilities and asymmetric tactics and techniques, a smaller force can do a really good job in defending themselves against a larger force," he said during a senate hearing.

Austin said that congressional approval to send weapons from U.S. stockpiles to Taiwan is "critical” in bolstering the nation’s defense. "We are working on that initiative and we hope to have an action forthcoming here in the near term," he said.

On Tuesday, the defense secretary said the U.S. will soon send "significant" security aid to Taiwan, which Taipei could use to buy more air defense and anti-armor missiles.

The announcement comes amid a large wave of support from U.S. lawmakers to expedite arms deliveries to Taiwan. There is currently a US$19 billion (NT$584.5 billion) backlog of weapons it has already purchased.

During his visit to Taiwan in April, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairperson Michael McCaul pledged to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that arms sales would continue and said Congress is doing all it can to fast-track weapons deliveries and increase military training assistance.

U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House select committee on China, has also vowed to do all he can to bolster Taiwan’s defensive capability and urge Congress to speed up weapons deliveries to the nation.

Meanwhile, former commanding general of U.S. Marine Forces Pacific Steven Rudder, who led a U.S. defense industry delegation earlier in May, said the U.S. is “committed to helping Taiwan defend itself because we, with our other like-minded partners in the area, want peace and security.” He stressed the importance of supply resilience and joint interoperability, which he said was the “endgame” of U.S.-Taiwan defense industry cooperation.