Defense, here are Taiwan’s latest moves against China
All of Taiwan's priorities in the new defense extra budget. An in-depth study by Giovanni Martinelli
On the surface, the figure may not even seem particularly high, given that it is the equivalent of approximately $ 8.6 billion over 5 years. In fact, this is what the Taiwan Parliament has just approved in terms of extra-budget for Defense; a sum that is added to the annual budget that the Asian country allocates to its Armed Forces and which, to give a reference deadline, for 2022 is worth 17 billion dollars.
In reality, in addition to the practical value represented by new funds for the purchase of weapons systems, this “special” budget proposed by the Taiwanese government last November also has a certain symbolic value; that is, to demonstrate Taipei's determination to resist rising Chinese military pressure .
In fact, by analyzing this provision in detail, there is certainly no shortage of points of interest. And this is because a careful selection of weapon systems to be privileged in the short term is evident, precisely to quickly build credible defensive but also offensive operational capabilities.
In fact, these additional resources cover various sectors. Proceeding in order, Tien Kung III and Tien Chen II missile systems for air defense are in fact financed. The first of the 2 has important characteristics and operational characteristics because it is capable of hitting aerial targets at a great distance and (relevant detail) also has anti-ballistic missile capabilities. The second is instead a medium range system.
Also important is the allocation for Wan Chien air-launched cruise missiles; with an estimated range of 240 km, they are designed to be used in attacks against targets on Chinese territory. Which is the same purpose as yet another system, namely Hsiung Sheng. Specifically, it is a surface-to-surface cruise missile derived from a previous model but with a significantly extended range; given that we are talking about 1,200 km. Therefore, especially with the latter, it is theoretically possible for Taiwan to hit targets located not only on the coast of China but also in some of its inland areas.
After recalling the allocation of an unspecified new attack “drone”, therefore a remotely piloted aircraft intended precisely for specific attack missions, attention shifts to naval systems; that is, the protagonists of this extra-budget, in terms of the quantity of systems financed and the extent of the financing itself. Starting with the purchase of additional ground-based anti-ship missile batteries, in turn centered on the Hsiung Feng III supersonic bomb; particularly formidable due to its speed and its range, estimated at 400 km (and even beyond).
In this regard, it should be noted that Taiwan is investing very heavily in this sector, continuing today and in the future to put into service batteries equipped with different types of missiles; both locally produced and purchased from the United States. The important fact is that these same systems are in a mobile configuration; that is based on launchers installed on trucks (configuration also chosen for Hsiung Sheng). The purpose is twofold; on the one hand, having high firepower in case China launches a large amphibious assault operation. On the other hand, increase one's survival skills by dispersing the launchers on the ground.
Finally, and always remaining in the naval field, the funds destined for the Navy and the Coast Guard of Taiwan are also very interesting. With them it will be possible first of all to accelerate the construction of the 12 Tuo Chiang class corvettes; platforms with a characteristic catamaran configuration, 65 meters long, capable of expressing high speeds and equipped with a truly consistent armament (pieces of artillery, anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles) in relation to their size.
These funds will also guarantee the purchase of weapon systems for the 12 patrol units of the Coast Guard of the Anping class, derived from the Tuo Chiang. Almost unarmed patrol boats in peacetime, in the event of a conflict they would instead be transformed with the embarkation of missiles; in this way, their final configuration would be similar to that of the corvettes, becoming in turn full-blown attack platforms.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/taiwan-difesa/ on Fri, 21 Jan 2022 06:29:30 +0000.