Following the news that Taiwanese military has decided to purchase an additional M142 High Mobility Artillery Rockets Systems (HIMARS) launchers and ATACMS missiles as part of record $40 billion annual defense budget;

Tristan Sauer, Land Domain Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“In its proposed defense budget for 2023, Taiwan has allocated funding for the acquisition of 29 High Mobility Artillery Rockets Systems (HIMARS), as well as 84 ATACMS surface-to-surface missiles (SSM) and 864 precision guided rockets to equip them as part of their largest ever defense budget, currently valued at NT$586 billion ($21.3 billion).

“The  decision reflects a renewed focus on building a multipronged defense strategy amidst the ongoing efforts to enhance strategic deterrence. Having initially planned to purchase 11 HIMARS launchers and 64 ATACMS missiles, Taiwan was forced to update its planned defense expenditures after original plans to purchase 40 M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers were cancelled in May due to inadequate production capabilities. Despite this late-stage alteration, the 2023 Taiwanese defense budget is still set to deliver a multi-faceted capability set comprised of both advanced platforms and conventional weapons systems to support its asymmetric defense strategy.

“Indeed, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Taiwanese defense officials have increasingly pushed for a more nuanced approach to defense procurement, with certain foreign and domestic analysts highlighting the extremely high attrition rate of both advanced and legacy platforms in a high intensity conflict. The previous efforts to enhance deterrence by acquiring small numbers of advanced platforms and systems such as fighter jets, main battle tanks and surface warfare vessels have come under increased scrutiny over the past several months as concerns mount that such an approach would provide  ‘priority targets’ for any hostile, which once defeated would cripple the military’s capacity to react and respond. This has led to a paradigm shift in the Taiwanese procurement priorities, with funding being diverted from such large-scale procurement programs to support the development and purchase of more affordable force-multiplier technology such as tactical unmanned aerial systems (UAS), anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS).

“However, this renewed focus on asymmetric warfare enablers is only a part of the Taiwanese approach to strategic deterrence, colloquially referred to as the ‘porcupine strategy’. As exemplified by the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), the ability to maintain asymmetric momentum and outlast a conventionally larger aggressor hinges on the ability of that force to target critical elements of an enemy’s forces with precision strike capabilities in addition to simply outmaneuvering their offenses. Indeed, Taiwanese defense officials have understood that their growing asymmetric warfare capabilities must be used in tandem with their more limited number of advanced systems such as  HIMARS to remain effective in a protracted high intensity conflict. The HIMARS platform and its associated weapons systems have repeatedly demonstrated their effectiveness throughout the war in Ukraine, and the Taiwanese military’s decision to acquire additional units indicates that these strategic similarities are not lost on defense planners.”