TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Analysts have pointed out that the US arms packages to Taiwan approved last week are more asymmetric in nature than in previous years, focused on countering an amphibious assault, according to Nikkei Asia.
The eight arms sales packages worth NT$350.3 billion (US$11.11 billion) include Taiwan Tactical Network and Tactical Assault Kits, Army AH-1W SuperCobra helicopter spare parts, M109A7 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, HIMARS systems, Army Tactical Missile Systems, ALTIUS-700M kamikaze drones, and additional anti-armor missiles.
Former US Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the weapons would “make a Chinese lodgment on Taiwan difficult to execute and sustain," per Nikkei Asia. "The UAVs will assist both in preventing Chinese forces from getting ashore and maneuvering once ashore," Montgomery added. He said that acquiring more defensive weapons systems would put invading Chinese ground forces under greater threat.
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, the head of the US-Taiwan Business Council, said that HIMARS and howitzers could effectively destroy Chinese military ships and landing craft attempting to bring Chinese troops onto Taiwan's shores and prevent them from establishing a bridgehead, Nikkei Asia said.
"We continue to see the prioritization of platforms and munitions that address a D-Day style attack on the island," Hammond-Chambers noted.
Jie Gao (高杰), a research associate at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis, said the arms sales come "when US-China trade talks have been moved forward to a more stabilized stage." "Beijing of course will protest, but arms sales wouldn't prompt Beijing to walk away from the trade agreements that the two sides have agreed on," she said.
Taiwan has expressed gratitude toward the US for the arms sales. The approved US arms sales demonstrate Washington’s continued fulfillment of its security commitments to Taiwan, Presidential Office Spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said on Thursday.
Kuo said that Taiwan’s defense budget for next year is expected to surpass 3% of GDP, in line with NATO standards, and is anticipated to reach 5% of GDP by 2030. The government has also proposed a special defense budget to bolster resilience and asymmetric capabilities, she added.
