TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is starting to build up its stocks of small, mobile weaponry, instead of only focusing on fighting back a Chinese invasion attempt with large warships and fighter jets, Nikkei Asia reported on Friday (March 29).
The Navy took delivery of two “carrier killer” corvettes this week, which have stealth capabilities and are fitted with anti-ship and anti-air missiles. Taiwan has six of these corvettes and expects to have 11 by 2026.
The new ships are part of a shift in focus to smaller, mobile weaponry in the face of China’s military force advantage, according to Nikkei Asia.
The report noted that the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) 2023 National Defense Report laid out a “defense in depth” strategy, which includes a plan if Chinese forces land in Taiwan. The idea would be to use defenses throughout the country to slow down China’s advance, allowing time for U.S. forces to arrive.
Taiwan would use smaller, more mobile equipment in an “asymmetric approach” to counter large Chinese weaponry, the MND report said. Nikkei Asia noted that this is a move away from Taipei’s previous strategy of using big-ticket items like warships and jet fighters to hit Chinese forces at sea.
The outlet noted that China’s 2024 military budget of US$232 billion (NT$7.42 trillion) is around 12 times larger than Taiwan’s almost US$19 billion defense budget, making it nearly impossible for Taiwan to outgun China.
The MND has been speeding up the deployment of HIMARS mobile rocket launchers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, and smart drones. The military is beginning to train young enlistees this year on how to use Javelins and Stinger missiles, per the report.
However, one big issue is that most of Taiwan’s defense budget is allocated to fighter jets and the construction of big warships. Whether or not the defense budget will be reallocated will fall on the shoulders of incoming president Lai Ching-te (賴清德), who is set to take office on May 20.
To shift funds around would mean the MND would also have to be reorganized, which could lead to pushback from some in the military who still believe in traditional firepower, per Nikkei Asia.
