Taiwan's Defense Must Adapt to China's New Weapons Systems, Analyst Warns

As China showcases its military prowess in a recent parade, a defense analyst emphasizes the need for Taiwan to bolster its defenses against Beijing's new stealth fighters, hypersonic missiles, and unmanned combat systems. To counter this, Taiwan must accelerate the development of asymmetric capabilities, prioritizing air defense to prevent PLA coastal or airborne landings. Analyst Su Tzu-yun warns that China's emphasis on drone swarms, hypersonic missiles, and other new combat capabilities can create a political deterrence effect against the US and its allies.

Key Takeaways:

• Taiwan must accelerate the development of asymmetric capabilities to counter China's new stealth fighters, hypersonic missiles, and unmanned combat systems.
• Air defense is the core priority to prevent PLA coastal or airborne landings, with Su Tzu-yun emphasizing that "nothing is more urgent than air defense."
• Taiwan should focus on developing mobile short- and medium-range air defenses to counter pressure from Dongfeng missiles, Weishi rockets, and medium- to large-sized drones.
• Taiwan has sufficient numbers of Hsiung Feng and Harpoon anti-ship missiles, but must make full use of its industrial advantages in unmanned systems to develop swarm-attack capabilities.
• The performance of China's YJ-series missiles, which appear to imitate Russian designs, could be only 70-80% of the original, according to Shen Ming-shih.
• China's weapons development and deployment, such as the J-35 fighter jet and the aircraft carrier Fujian, are slow, reflecting limited actual capability.
• Shen Ming-shih suggests that many of China's weapons may have been built primarily for show during the parade, with uncertain effectiveness in actual combat.

Statistics:

• The DF-61 intercontinental ballistic missile has a range exceeding 15,000 kilometers and can carry multiple warheads and decoys.
• 70-80% performance of the YJ-series missiles, which may be imitations of Russian designs.
• Taiwan has sufficient numbers of Hsiung Feng and Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
• The China's YJ-15, YJ-19, YJ-17, and YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missiles strengthen China's anti-access/area-denial capability.

Sources:

• Liberty Times
• Su Tzu-yun, research fellow at the defense ministry's Institute for National Defense and Security Research
• Shen Ming-shih, research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research