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MND details grey zone tactics
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) detailed "grey zone" tactics employed by China to conduct reconnaissance around Taiwan and its outlying islands in a report to the legislature on Wednesday.
The report, mandated by the legislature to accompany the ministry's annual budget request, included a new chapter titled "non-military operations" that detailed how the PRC employs "gray zone" warfare tactics to increase pressure on Taiwan's military.
The MND says China has been using drones, civilian aircraft, weather balloons, recreational fishing boats, and marine research vessels to gather intelligence on Taiwan's troop deployments in the outer islands, test the military's responses to such incursions and increase the pressure on Taiwan's coastguard forces.
The MND plans to install anti-drone defence systems at 45 sites across Taiwan proper and on the frontline outlying islands, to disrupt or neutralize hostile drones and secure the nation's airspace.
On Wednesday evening army units in Kinmen County fired live rounds in the direction of Chinese drones flying in the airspace of the offshore county, on three separate occasions and in different locations.The Army's Kinmen Defense Command says the drones, identified as civilian models, flew close to Lieyu, Dadan and Caoyu islets between 18:00 and 20:00.
Officers say after troops stationed on the islets fired live rounds and flares to warn units stationed nearby, the drones quickly left the area and flew toward Xiamen in China.The command said it is on high alert and closely monitoring the situation on the frontline islands.
In other defence news, Taiwan's military has decided to allocate funds to buy more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, launchers from the United States. This comes after cancelling its original plan to purchase "Paladin" self-propelled howitzers.
According to the MND’s proposed budget for 2023, the army is planning to buy a total of 29 HIMARS, a multiple launch rocket system mounted on a military truck, 18 more than originally planned.
It's also aiming to buy a total of 84 ATACMS, a long-range guided missile, up from 64 which it originally wanted, as well as a total of 864 precision rockets that can be used by HIMARS.
The total budget is set at NT$32.5 billion with an expectation of receiving a first batch of 11 HIMARS in 2024 after making the order. The ROC army says the project is meant to provide high-precision, highly mobile, long-distance firepower to Taiwan's frontline islands to eliminate any invading enemy forces.
The MND was given notice by the US that the self-propelled howitzers would not be delivered on time due to inadequate production capacity.
