Analysts Warn of Defense Gaps as Taiwan Retires Aging Equipment
Taiwan's military plans to retire aging hardware to save on maintenance costs. But not all of it has an obvious candidate for replacement.
Transcript
00:00It's the end of the road for a range of old military hardware that's draining the defense
00:04budget with maintenance costs.
00:06Within five years, three pieces of aging equipment will be pulled from service.
00:10The savings are projected to break 99 million U.S. dollars.
00:14In the case of the F-5 fighter jet, a replacement is already waiting in the wings, Taiwan's
00:19homegrown Brave Eagle trainer jet.
00:22But as for the other two pieces of equipment to be retired, what comes next is less clear.
00:27The military says it has plans.
00:29In the face of enemy threats, we will maintain a proper proportion of our military equipment
00:35to ensure the overall national security.
00:44But for now, military experts can only guess what those plans might be.
00:48The M1-4D tank, which has been in service for over 60 years, is especially important.
00:54It's deployed to what might be the front line in a Chinese invasion, the Taiwan-governed
00:58island of Liyu, just off China's coast.
01:01Light tactical vehicles have been floated as a good replacement if they're equipped
01:05with anti-armor capabilities, but not everyone holds that view.
01:22And when it comes to the Taiwan-built CM-24 armored artillery tractor, there are no obvious
01:27candidates in sight.
01:29With Chinese threats to take Taiwan backed up with regular incursions, the question analysts
01:34have is how the military will fill this gap.
01:37Chris Ma and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.