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The U.S.-Iran conflict has brought renewed focus on the central role of air defense systems in modern warfare.
Iran's missile and drone strikes, and dwindling stocks of U.S. and Israeli interceptors, are being watched especially closely in Taiwan, where the government aims to complete its "T-Dome" multilayered air defense network next year.
Taipei has responded with incremental increases in defense spending, including purchases from its main arms supplier, Washington, though Lai continues to face stiff resistance from the opposition-controlled legislature.
Newsweek has reached out to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry by email with a request for comment.
Missiles streak across the sky over central Israel on March 18, 2026. | Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
China’s vast missile arsenal is of particular concern, with officials fearing a saturation strike could overwhelm Taiwan's defenses and devastate critical infrastructure command-and-control systems in the early stages of a conflict.
Taiwan aims to complete its first fully integrated, domestically developed regional air defense system by next year, according to a report delivered to lawmakers last week by the state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), the island’s top weapons developer.
Defense officials have urged lawmakers to increase funding for indigenous systems, including the Tien Kung (Sky Bow) IV surface-to-air missile, as part of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (about $39 billion) special defense budget, local media reported.
Tien Kung missiles, operating alongside U.S.-made Patriot interceptors, NASAMS, and long‑range early‑warning radar and surveillance systems already in place, will form part of a layered network. The military is also planning to procure low‑cost counter‑rocket and air‑defense systems, integrating them through AI‑enabled battlefield management, Lieutenant General Lien Chih‑wei, a senior operations and planning official at the defense ministry, told legislators.
Defense analysts say the Iran war highlights the need for layered defenses that can handle both high-end missile threats and large volumes of lower-cost drones.
Meanwhile, the debate continues in the legislature over a nearly $40 billion special defense budget proposed by Lai. Opposition lawmakers have raised questions over fiscal responsibility and the feasibility of procurement and construction timelines for big-ticket platforms and initiatives, including the T-Dome.
"To protect Taiwan from the full spectrum of threats that air defense systems encounter, the T-Dome concept must include robust counter-[unmanned aircraft system] measures that can neutralize low-altitude and slow-moving platforms."
Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said during an October press briefing: "[President] Lai Ching-te authorities’ attempt of seeking Taiwan independence and resisting reunification through military buildup will only push Taiwan towards the danger of military conflict."
U.S. defense and intelligence officials have said Xi has directed the People’s Liberation Army to be capable of taking Taiwan by 2027, though they note this does not mean the decision has been made to launch an attack that year.
President Donald Trump has said Xi promised not to move against Taiwan during his term, though Beijing has not publicly confirmed this.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to help produce this story. Learn more about Martyn.
________________________________________
Interesting article, but it displays what everyone knows is the only solution, shiload of nuclear power plants and nukes. For any nation that wishes to safeguard it's own existence. Just like North Korea.
And quite interesting how AI has been used to generate this article
Iran's missile and drone strikes, and dwindling stocks of U.S. and Israeli interceptors, are being watched especially closely in Taiwan, where the government aims to complete its "T-Dome" multilayered air defense network next year.
Why It Matters
China claims Taiwan as its territory and has sharply increased military activity around the island, including multiple large-scale exercises in recent years, to pressure the Beijing-skeptic government of President Lai Ching-te. Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed unification is inevitable and has not ruled out using force to achieve this.Taipei has responded with incremental increases in defense spending, including purchases from its main arms supplier, Washington, though Lai continues to face stiff resistance from the opposition-controlled legislature.
Newsweek has reached out to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry by email with a request for comment.
Missiles streak across the sky over central Israel on March 18, 2026. | Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
China’s vast missile arsenal is of particular concern, with officials fearing a saturation strike could overwhelm Taiwan's defenses and devastate critical infrastructure command-and-control systems in the early stages of a conflict.
Taiwan aims to complete its first fully integrated, domestically developed regional air defense system by next year, according to a report delivered to lawmakers last week by the state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), the island’s top weapons developer.
Defense officials have urged lawmakers to increase funding for indigenous systems, including the Tien Kung (Sky Bow) IV surface-to-air missile, as part of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (about $39 billion) special defense budget, local media reported.
Tien Kung missiles, operating alongside U.S.-made Patriot interceptors, NASAMS, and long‑range early‑warning radar and surveillance systems already in place, will form part of a layered network. The military is also planning to procure low‑cost counter‑rocket and air‑defense systems, integrating them through AI‑enabled battlefield management, Lieutenant General Lien Chih‑wei, a senior operations and planning official at the defense ministry, told legislators.
Defense analysts say the Iran war highlights the need for layered defenses that can handle both high-end missile threats and large volumes of lower-cost drones.
Meanwhile, the debate continues in the legislature over a nearly $40 billion special defense budget proposed by Lai. Opposition lawmakers have raised questions over fiscal responsibility and the feasibility of procurement and construction timelines for big-ticket platforms and initiatives, including the T-Dome.
What People Are Saying
Bryce Barros, a security analyst and associate fellow at GLOBSEC, told Newsweek: "As we’ve seen with Iran’s use of Shahed drones, these systems are devastating because they are cheap to mass-produce, difficult to detect on radar, hard to spot with the naked eye at times, and highly precise."To protect Taiwan from the full spectrum of threats that air defense systems encounter, the T-Dome concept must include robust counter-[unmanned aircraft system] measures that can neutralize low-altitude and slow-moving platforms."
Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said during an October press briefing: "[President] Lai Ching-te authorities’ attempt of seeking Taiwan independence and resisting reunification through military buildup will only push Taiwan towards the danger of military conflict."
What Happens Next
China is expected to continue applying pressure on the Lai administration through military activity, diplomatic isolation and economic measures.U.S. defense and intelligence officials have said Xi has directed the People’s Liberation Army to be capable of taking Taiwan by 2027, though they note this does not mean the decision has been made to launch an attack that year.
President Donald Trump has said Xi promised not to move against Taiwan during his term, though Beijing has not publicly confirmed this.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to help produce this story. Learn more about Martyn.
________________________________________
Interesting article, but it displays what everyone knows is the only solution, shiload of nuclear power plants and nukes. For any nation that wishes to safeguard it's own existence. Just like North Korea.
And quite interesting how AI has been used to generate this article
