Taiwan should maintain its existing conventional forces to combat low-intensity conflicts while acquiring more asymmetric warfare capabilities to counter potential aggression from China, said a report by military analyst Eric Gomez published by the Cato Institute on Friday last week.
The report compared military items sold to Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office and US President Joe Biden’s current term.
Trump sold more traditional weapons while Biden emphasized improving asymmetric warfare capabilities, the report said.
Photo courtesy of Ministry of National Defense via CNA
The first Trump administration sold Taiwan US$10.4 billion (NT$319.9 million) in traditional weapons, while the Biden administration has only sold US$500 million worth of traditional weapons, the report said.
“Traditional weapons are more flexible, but they tend to have much higher unit and lifetime costs and take longer to build than asymmetric capabilities,” the report said.
As of last month, only one of four military sales packages made by the Trump administration has been delivered to Taiwan, it said.
Initial deliveries of M1 Abrams tanks and F-16 jets should begin in the next few months and be completed within two years, it added.
The Biden administration focused more on asymmetric capabilities, with nine sales packages worth a total of US$4.36 billion, and maintenance, with 14 sales packages worth a total of US$2.81 billion, the report said.
Acquiring more asymmetric capabilities while maintaining existing traditional capabilities is a “sensible strategy,” he said.
“While the first Trump administration sold Taiwan more weapons, the Biden administration sold Taiwan a better mix of weapons for Taiwan’s self-defense needs,” Gomez said.
A recent report by the Financial Times said that Taiwan might put forward a large arms sales wish list worth US$15 billion for surface warships, F-35 fighter jets, E-2D early warning aircraft and Patriot interceptors, he said.
Except for the Patriot interceptors, “this would be a terrible choice for Taiwan,” Gomez said.
Not only would these traditional systems consume most of Taiwan’s limited defense budget, but “they would be relatively easy for China to counter and take a long time to be built and delivered,” he said.
Taiwan has correctly started focusing more on the development of much-needed asymmetric warfare capabilities in the last few years, he said.
While large-scale arms sales might seem appealing, it is more rational for the shared interests of both nations for Taiwan to buy cheaper, but more militarily effective asymmetric capabilities, he added.
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