Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

caohailiang said:

there could be escalations but to a full scale ww3, that is a long way to go with a lot of variables
anyway, i think it is fair to say the PLA (maybe US too) is building up their capability based on the assumption of US intervention.

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whatever, I'd be interested in 'defending indefensible' problem (of gradually conquering/holding), not in your premise (of US involvement), so please don't quote me, I'm reading about Virginia subs right now and then I'll go out

manqiangrexue said:

That is fair, for the reason I mentioned above. It is deterrence. An America that thinks it can achieve an easy victory is one that is prone to attack. One that sees China's military as a very difficult rival (or an intimidating one in the future) that can inflict heavy losses on American troops is one that is likely to be reserved and limit its interference to diplomatic outcries.

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which is why i am intrigued to discussions or simulations on the effect of such deterrence.

caohailiang said:

which is why i am intrigued to discussions or simulations on the effect of such deterrence.

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RAND has run many simulations and as far back as 2009, have begun to predict Chinese victory due to the geographical advantages. The Chinese military has obviously since then grown much faster than other other military in the world since then. We've had some discussions on scenarios usually based on the RAND predictions involving China's opening steps of missile barrage incapacitating much of the ROC's military installations and quick troop-landings making it extremely awkward and cumbersome for the US to get involved at those steps. Then there's China's ASBMs targeting US carriers if they try to enter the fight from 900 to some 2 thousand miles away. I recommend you read those (though they might be a little outdated as to the best of my memory even the most recent one was written under the assumption that the US would be the only country with stealth fighters in the conflict). I think these are the most recent from 2019 but they're reports on original RAND reports (and likely the same RAND report), which is probably as thick as a book:

manqiangrexue said:

@Viktor Jav @abc123 There is no nation or country of Taiwan; no such place is recognized by the UN or any relevant nation in the world. It is the Chinese territory called Republic of China.

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I know. Lapsus lingue.

I use "continental China" / "Taiwan" instead of "PRC" / "ROC" not because of political correctness or something, but not to confuse with "ROK" as in LOL as personally I pronounce "ROC" and "ROK" the same

Viktor Jav said:

We do not know how much is the armyis really getting for its actual share.Also the deal does cover support package including training rounds and simulators so it is actually quite comprehensive and depending on the negotiations the payment schedule can be potentially flexible. More ever other equipments like communication equipments and the likes aren't really expensive as one might think, attack helicopters are definitely a big ticket items but that can be covered in future purchases.
And since Taiwan is procuring most other ifvs indigenously it can afford to make this purchase depending on what Taipei decided in the future. Considering their defense budget to gdp they can certainly push the number up a bit higher.
In all consideration the M1A2 is a definitely upgrade over its existing MBT fleet. We can go around how they might actually function in a real life setting but given the nature of the forum let's not get into that shall we?
As for manpower issues I really don't see a problem, if they can maintain a 1000 tank fleet now they can assurely maintain a similar number in the future unless they face a suddenly population drop. And depending on how they go about it they might take the opportunity to reorganize the fleet into a smaller and leaner one in the process

In the end it is all depended on how well Taiwan can source its other weapon system, which seeing it's choice in the Abrams is to them at acceptable levels.

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The ROCA skimped on the spare parts (just like the F-16V purchase) and where are the support vehicles and repair equipment for the M1s?

Modern comm systems cost a lot (look at the build outs for 5G (or even 4G LTE, it would run in the high ten/low eleven digits in USD for a mid sized nation). Now, a military system won't be as expensive, but military comms are a lot more expensive on a unit by unit basis.

The current 8X8 IFVs already had enough teething problems. Tracked IFVs will only be more expensive.

Manpower is a huge problem. Currently, the ROC Armed Forces have about .8% of the entire population. That would be a population burden equivalent to 2.4 million (USA) or 10 million (Mainland).

Bltizo said:

I understand the users here obviously have different feelings regarding the political status of Taiwan.

People may argue about whatever its de facto status is or whether inclusion or exclusion in certain international bodies deem it to be a "country" or not.


But this is sinodefence forum and the political status of Taiwan is naturally something that people will hold strong views about.


I will be discussing this matter with the moderators, however for now I will kindly request our members to avoid terms that either suggest Taiwan is a country or that Taiwan is a province please.

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There's really is no need. Even President Tsai when addressing her "nation" uses the official title which is Republic of China. Never Republic of Taiwan. Or just Taiwan. (Feel free to check all official engagements). Look at their passports.

Skywatcher said:

The ROCA skimped on the spare parts (just like the F-16V purchase) and where are the support vehicles and repair equipment for the M1s?

Modern comm systems cost a lot (look at the build outs for 5G (or even 4G LTE, it would run in the high ten/low eleven digits in USD for a mid sized nation). Now, a military system won't be as expensive, but military comms are a lot more expensive on a unit by unit basis.

The current 8X8 IFVs already had enough teething problems. Tracked IFVs will only be more expensive.

Manpower is a huge problem. Currently, the ROC Armed Forces have about .8% of the entire population. That would be a population burden equivalent to 2.4 million (USA) or 10 million (Mainland).

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It is also included in the package, news outlets typically do not go into the fine detail of every single bolt and nut. In earlier articles they have listed the deal as including heavy transport vehicles and recovery vehicles and this is already on top of their existing fleet of support vehicles which can just as easily be tuned to service the m1 instead so there is really no issue here. And I have yet to see any report of taiwan actively cutting corners on the f-16 either. As of now their fleet is perfectly serviceable.
And again, while what you say about military equipments are more expensive than its civilian counterparts is true, it again comes down to where Taipei can get a good price for its budget, and all indications shows that they most likely are.
And judging by the numbers and different variants built by Taiwan, if the CM-32 had any teething problems to begin with , that issue had long since pass. Not that teething issues play a significant part in budgeting issued to begin with, as said before it all comes down to what the final price tag will be. The same will apply for any potential tracked IFV in the future

And how large a army is vis a vis it's population does not automatically translate into a burden. During the Cold War the US has nearly 2.1 million active duty troops which is close to the ratio in Taiwan today (US population was 250 million in 1990), yet they can afford to keep that level far for almost an indefinite period. It all boils down to how productive the rest of the country and population is to support the armed forces and we have seen no evidence to the contrary in Taiwan

Taiwanese Army trials CM-32 armored vehicles:

The US DoD Awarded Engine Contract For Taiwanese Air Force’s F-16V: