Experts believe that the joint production of ammunition by the United States and Taiwan may meet Taiwan's weapons needs faster than arms sales, and the two sides should focus on the development of short-range defensive weapons.

The picture shows the national army firing javelin missiles.

(file photo)

[Instant News/Comprehensive Report] Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Chamber of Commerce, recently pointed out that the U.S. will lead a delegation of about 25 U.S. defense contractors to visit Taiwan in early May to discuss joint production of drones and ammunition. matter.

Experts believe that the joint production of ammunition by the United States and Taiwan may meet Taiwan's weapons needs faster than arms sales. The two sides should focus on the development of short-range defense weapons and strengthen the resilience and production capacity of Taiwan's local defense industry.

According to the "Voice of America" ​​report, Han Rubo pointed out that the US-Taiwan defense cooperation currently under discussion has broader issues, including the delivery speed of purchased weapons, future joint production and research and development of weapons, etc., and may at some point in time, U.S. weapons are licensed to be produced in Taiwan.

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Randall Schriver, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs of the US Department of Defense, also mentioned that the US-Taiwan joint production of weapons is worth discussing, especially considering Taiwan's demand for ammunition storage, US-Taiwan cooperation is meaningful.

Xue Ruifu also pointed out the problem, saying that the problem of producing ammunition in Taiwan is that sometimes there is a lack of a third-party market, because other countries do not necessarily want to buy weapons from Taiwan. Resilience, this discussion is meaningful.

Eric Gomez, a defense expert at the CATO Institute, a US think tank, pointed out that the ammunition and equipment that highlighted the importance in the Ukrainian-Russian War, including drones, needle missiles and javelin missiles, etc., can all be used by the United States and Taiwan. The focus of production should be on building short-range defense systems, rather than assisting Taiwan in building longer-range, more offensive systems, which pose higher risks during and on the eve of war.

Due to the special environment in the Taiwan Strait, if China invades Taiwan, any materials will have to be transported to Taiwan by sea or air. Gomez mentioned that it is very important to ensure the resilience of Taiwan’s domestic defense production capacity. Taiwan is currently expanding anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile production lines. But this work requires time to expand facilities. The United States can provide some technical and material assistance to help Taiwan establish management, operation and expand existing production lines. Taiwan can also increase the proportion of using local materials and reduce its dependence on the United States.

Gomez pointed out that in addition to having military uses, arms sales to Taiwan will also send a supportive political signal, but the disadvantage of arms sales is that delivery takes time, which is not as fast as the efficiency of joint arms production, which can bring more benefits. Rapid, low-key weapon delivery.

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