MNA

Vice Minister for Policy Hsu Szu-Chien stated today that the “Special Act on Procurement for Strengthening Defense Resilience and Asymmetric Warfare Capabilities” was proposed in response to enemy threats and joint operations requirements. The overall planning covered capability construction in strike, intelligence surveillance reconnaissance, command and control, unmanned systems, and sustained combat capabilities. These various capabilities were interdependent and could not be arbitrarily reduced or postponed. He hoped that all political parties would jointly support national defense buildup and the enhancement of defense resilience. The Executive Yuan held a press conference after its meeting this morning, during which Vice Minister Hsu explained issues related to the special defense act. Vice Minister Hsu pointed out that this special budget adopted a one-time, large-scale investment approach. In addition to accelerating combat power acquisition, it could also provide long-term stable demand for domestic industries and drive the development of unmanned systems and the national defense industry. If the budget were changed to annual allocations, it would affect the military buildup timeline and the effectiveness of equipment integration. Regarding military procurement progress, Vice Minister Hsu stated that the relevant military procurement cases had all completed preliminary coordination with the U.S. side and obtained formal letters of supply assurance. The Ministry of National Defense would continue to maintain close communication and coordination with the U.S. side to ensure smooth advancement of all procurement cases. In addition, Vice Minister Hsu emphasized that promoting large-scale and long-term procurement of unmanned systems and related equipment through the special budget would not only help rapidly enhance combat power but also assist domestic manufacturers in investing in research and development and production capacity building, thereby strengthening defense self-reliance and supply chain resilience.