According to RAND Corporation analysts, Taiwan should refrain from investing in large-scale military assets like tanks and submarines and transition to lighter, more agile platforms. They stress the importance of Taiwan enhancing its capabilities in asymmetric warfare, increasing its military budget, and focusing on acquiring weapons necessary for confronting a potential large-scale conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific region.

These experts highlight flaws in Taiwan’s military posture, including inadequate defense spending and excessive investment in platforms unsuitable for defending against a large-scale war. The analysts call for Taiwan to adopt a truly asymmetric defense posture, improve training for ground and reserve units, and upgrade civil defense preparations.

They also recommend that US policymakers prioritize contracts with Taiwan’s arms manufacturers to expedite the delivery of urgently needed equipment and support the development of Taiwan’s defense industry through coproduction and technology transfers.

Additionally, they caution against Taiwan’s continued pursuit of capabilities ill-suited for defending against a full-scale attack, such as tanks, frigates, amphibious assault ships, and submarines, which they argue are vulnerable to destruction by a superior force like the People’s Liberation Army.

This is an excerpt from the article Getting Serious About Taiwan | RAND:

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