'T-Dome' to enhance Taiwan's multi-layer air defense capabilities: Experts

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) Taiwan's planned development of a "T-dome" missile defense system could enhance its multi-layer air defense capabilities, military experts said on Friday.

During his National Day speech on Friday, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) pledged to strengthen Taiwan's air defense capabilities by building a "T-Dome" system to provide a safety net for the nation amid growing military threats from China.

Lai, however, did not provide further details on the air defense system.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a division director at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the name "T-Dome" is inspired by Israel's Iron Dome and a similar system being introduced in the United States called the "Golden Dome."

In May, U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans for a new space-based missile defense system intended to detect and destroy a variety of foreign threats, including ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles.

Both systems integrate multi-layer air-defense capabilities, Su said, adding that Taiwan's system would similarly allow the country to shield itself from missiles, fighter jets, and drones across all altitudes.

Kuo Yu-jen (郭育仁), director of National Sun Yat-sen University's Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies, said the development of Taiwan's "T-Dome" follows a similar logic to U.S. and regional allies' defenses.

Just like the United States, South Korea and Japan, Taiwan is seeking an integrated system that can detect and intercept incoming missiles and enemy aircraft, providing a multi-layered defense to protect the nation against increasingly sophisticated threats, Kuo said.

China showcased a variety of hypersonic and ballistic missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland during its Sept. 3 military parade, highlighting the threat Beijing poses to Taiwan, said Chen Shih-min (陳世民), who teaches political science at National Taiwan University (NTU).

At a time like this, President Lai's announcement of plans to build a "T-Dome" can provide psychological reassurance to the public, signaling that Taiwan is not defenseless against China's missile threat, the NTU professor added.

Echoing Chen, Kuo said missile defense systems are a crucial part of national defense for democracies around the world, as highlighted by the first day of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war, when hundreds of missiles were launched at Ukrainian targets.

Chou Yu-ping (周宇平), a retired Air Force colonel, said Taiwan currently uses an integrated network as its air defense command-and-control platform to consolidate radar data from various ground stations along with information detected by existing Patriot and Tien Kung battery systems deployed around the country.

Chou said the "T-Dome" could likely adopt a sensor-to-shooter system, a defense technology that rapidly links a target's detection to a weapon system's engagement, similar to that of the United States' Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS).

The IBCS is designed to link radars across thousands of miles and shoot down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase.