Taiwan's Reaction to PLA Force Modernization

ROC just cannot match the PRC in terms of military budget, arms race, and technology. The PRC airforce is now technologically superior and numberical. With nearly 100 J-10 and 300 Flankers in the PLAAF the ROCAF cannot match that kind of number in terms of modern aircrafts. ROCAF only got 50ish Mirage, 140ish F-16, 120ish AIDC which are classfied as modern and basically ROCAF whole fleet. While PLAAF has more modern fighters then ROCAF now, they also have large amounts of J-8/7 in their fleet. So ROCAF is been driven into a whole in which they cannot get out.

No amount of economic ties will convince PRC to abandon eventual unification. No amount of democracy will reverse the hearts and minds of mainland Chinese. As its conventional arms become hopelessly outmatched, Taiwan is losing control of its future by ignoring the inevitable conclusion.

Ironically, it needs to look to North Korea for example. North Korea through sheer energy and determination has achieved its security with even older military technology and far smaller economic base.
Taiwan has lacked this determination, because it joined in a hopeless race. My proposal will give Taiwan a goal it CAN win. It will not race China fighter for fighter, missile for missile. Rock, steel, TNT, they are the people's war tools of Taiwan. Fortress Taiwan, the build up for unification rather than for independence, is an achievable goal..

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In addition to food security, Taiwan needs to secure its water supplies from poisoning. It needs underground stockpiles and underground desalination plants. The earth is Taiwan's friend. Think like a rat.

here is my list of military hardware that I would want if I were ROC
1. More F-16's and buy the F-15
2. More Harpoon and get the SLAM
3. More Patriot AD missiles
4. M1A1 Abrams MBT or due to terrain the Leclerc if possible. Upgrade M-60A3 with reactive armour or to Israeli upgraded standards.
5. ground launched hellfire systems(thermobaric) and more Javelins
6. deploy and field land attack cruise missiles with 500mile range and ballistic missiles that can reach Beijing.
7. THIS IS MOST IMPORTANT. create a all volunteer force that is very anti-PRC that will fight like hell. create a anti-unification clause within the force mandate to act if such leader attempts to in-act unification.

8. during the Olympic games formally declare independence. that would be just too funny. I think half the PLA general staff would die of heart attack caused by anger thus elimination of command and control targets.

With these systems instead of expensive submarines and ships would be much more of a force multilayer and cause PLA real pause before launching any kind of operation.

Just notice one thing, for sth with similar performance, ROC generally pay 5 times as PRC. And PRC has 5 times of ROC's military expense

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In addition to food security, Taiwan needs to secure its water supplies from poisoning. It needs underground stockpiles and underground desalination plants. The earth is Taiwan's friend. Think like a rat.

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Since time is in PRC’s favor at the moment. It’s no need and really unwise to stir up animosity between the Straits. Don’t forget what Sima Qian (司馬遷) has said in Shi Chi (Records of the Grand Historian, 史記), ‘Even there are few nobilities in the Kingdom of Chu, but it must be them who will overthrown the Qin Dynasty. (楚雖三戶, 亡秦必楚.)’

utelore said:

here is my list of military hardware that I would want if I were ROC

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I definitely want to move the island further 1000 kms away from mainland China continent, and enlarge Taiwan's area a few times.

Without depth and distance, no weapons actually work so I won't spend money on useless things.

utelore said:

1. More F-16's and buy the F-15

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F-16 funds "frozen" in the 2007 budget - when approved in the next week or so, it's expected the US will authorise the sale. But the F-15 has been ruled out.

2. More Harpoon and get the SLAM

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Taiwan has enough Harpoons for the ROCN. For some reason the ROCAF isn't hot on Harpoons - I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm also not sure whether the HF-II/III can be launched from their jets.

SLAM has not been offered.

3. More Patriot AD missiles

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Upgrade to PAC-3 is in the 2007 budget. More PAC-3 batteries might be in the 2008 budget, but there are still concerns on price.

4. M1A1 Abrams MBT or due to terrain the Leclerc if possible. Upgrade M-60A3 with reactive armour or to Israeli upgraded standards.

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I have no idea about what the ROCA wants in this area, or what the US has approved. They may be content with the CM-32 (even though it's not a tank) as it can have heavy weaponary fitted and more attack helicopters.

I doubt the French would put the Leclerc on the Taiwanese market.

5. ground launched hellfire systems(thermobaric) and more Javelins

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Given they've just received Javelin, it would be a bit early to be ordering more.

6. deploy and field land attack cruise missiles with 500mile range and ballistic missiles that can reach Beijing.

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That's an on-going project.

7. THIS IS MOST IMPORTANT. create a all volunteer force that is very anti-PRC that will fight like hell.

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They have been moving towards more volunteers and I doubt the current members are terribly pro-China. However you can't force people to join the Army - things can only move as fast as volunteers come forward.

8. during the Olympic games formally declare independence. that would be just too funny. I think half the PLA general staff would die of heart attack caused by anger thus elimination of command and control targets.

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Except that none of the things on your wish-list would have been delivered by that point!!!!

utelore said:

here is my list of military hardware that I would want if I were ROC
1. More F-16's and buy the F-15

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Although it requires another logistical train, they're better off with Hornets. The short take off and landing capability of Hornets opens more highway landing options than the F-16. The F-15 is even worst than the F-16. At the same time, the Hornet can carry more munitions and AAMs, and is more resistant to battle damage and FOD.

Let me add to somethings above.

The F-15 is a plane that loves having a big logistical infrastructure to back it up. What you need is a plane that can survive and perform missions even if the logistics behind it is under fire. Just remember that compared to an F-16, the F-15 needs more fuel, missiles, and maintenance. The fuel requirements alone should be twice, and you're going to need more AMRAAMs to justify it.

The weight of the F-15 seriously reduces the number of highways you can use for emergency strips. A Strike or Slam Eagle is going to hit the pavement with an empty weight twice of that of an F-16A, M2000 or IDF at nearly 250mph, and that's going to seriously limit your highway choices. The factors worsen when you consider the stretches of highways wide enough for it, and long enough for its take offs and landings. The plane may have trouble fitting inside underground bases, and even if you do fit it in, you can fit less in than a smaller fighter. Then consider the limited space of an underground base has to store its fuel and munitions.

Which is why I think the ROC is perfectly served with small and light fighters.

The Hornet is something to be considered because not just its STOL capability, but because with its folding wings, its easier to stash, store and take out of underground bases.

As for the Harpoon, the radar guided head is not as useful as a TV optical seeker in dealing with coastal targets. Along the coast, there is serious clutter from the ground, the coast, and the shallow seabed underneath. All you need to see why coastal AshMs like the NSF and C701 use optical seekers rather than radar guided. The Japanese ASM-2 also uses a thermo optical seeker. In this sense a Maverick is a better choice than a Harpoon. I have many people questioning why Taiwan is going for more Mavericks than Harpoons.

Tanks are the most useless things in any Southeast Asian theatre due to the geography. The bigger and the heavier they are, the more it is so. There are limits in the weight that roads and bridges can handle, and there are also maximum width. M1s also guz gas like there is no tomorrow, not a help in a country living on a 30 day strategic reserve. Big tanks may be more of a trouble than a help.

One way to resupply Taiwan would be with USN escort while refusing to fire the first shot. China will likely allow some ships/aircraft through to head off full scale intervention.

But Taiwan really needs to dig itself into the earth. Otherwise it will suffer hell if China only keeps throwing glibe bombs off of Fujian.