00:01Rapid deployment and precision strike capabilities.
00:05This is the HIMARS rocket launcher, one of the weapon systems Taiwan plans to keep buying.
00:11On Monday, the Defense Ministry published a purchase plan for its record special defense budget,
00:16worth around US$40 billion.
00:19The plan aims to strengthen Taiwan's air defenses.
00:22Key items include the HIMARS, self-propelled artillery,
00:26drone and counter-drone systems, air defense and anti-ballistic missiles,
00:30and AI-assisted information systems.
00:33But the plan still needs approval from the legislature.
00:36We have no approval from the legislature.
00:38Before we continue, we still need to respect the legislature.
00:42The legislature can give us the budget.
00:45We still need to, according to the budget of the budget,
00:49the budget, put forward by President Lai Qingde in late November,
00:55It's largely focused on the T-DOM, a multi-layered air defense system.
01:01The plan may seem like a grab bag of different systems,
01:04but experts say they can be complementary.
01:07The
01:34Taiwan is also set to buy an AI decision support system
01:38to help it adapt to modern warfare.
01:52The ministry says it also plans to use the funding
01:55to step up defense cooperation with the US,
01:58as it aims to strengthen its asymmetric warfare capabilities.
02:02Thank you for joining us for Taiwan Plus.
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