Ministry of National Defense: Special budget to boost joint operations, but full-spectrum surveillance capabilities still needed

Central News Agency, Taipei, May 22. The Legislative Yuan will review the special budget for arms procurement on the 25th. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) indicated that procuring five types of equipment, including M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, will moderately improve overall joint operational effectiveness. However, to form the three key elements of a 'Taiwan Shield'—comprehensive air defense, asymmetric defense capabilities, and sustained attrition capabilities—it is essential to simultaneously build full-spectrum surveillance, unmanned systems, and command-and-control decision-making capabilities. The total special budget is NT$294.99 billion, with NT$8.81 billion allocated for this year. The M109A7 howitzers are budgeted at NT$80.6 billion, and the HIMARS system at NT$159.7 billion. The MND emphasized that expanding production capacity for ammunition and defense resilience is also critical.