Taiwan showcased its evolving dual-track defense strategy at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition with an unprecedented mix of advanced United States-supplied systems and domestically developed asymmetric technologies. The 2025 edition of the biennial event drew record international participation and underscored Taiwan’s commitment to bolstering its conventional capabilities while accelerating self-reliant innovation in uncrewed and precision strike systems.
Among the featured U.S.-developed assets were the self-governed island’s recently acquired M1A2T Abrams battle tanks and M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).
“The M1A2 tanks significantly enhance the mobility, agility, lethality and concealed striking — and therefore the overall survivability — of Taiwan’s heavy armored forces,” Taiwan-based defense analyst Dee Wu told FORUM.
That would include scenarios in which China attempted to land armored forces after an initial amphibious assault of the island, which Beijing claims as its territory and threatens to forcibly annex.
Similarly, the HIMARS rocket launchers boost Taiwan’s long-range precision strike capabilities, with their May 2025 live-fire debut a milestone in Taipei’s growing deterrence arsenal.
The exhibition also showcased next-generation asymmetric and uncrewed systems. Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology introduced new and upgraded platforms, including the Albatross II long-range uncrewed aerial vehicle, the Mighty Hornet loitering munition and a prototype autonomous cruise missile developed in collaboration with U.S.-based Anduril Industries.
“Unmanned systems in the air and sea are particularly important to addressing Taiwan’s most significant strategic vulnerability vis-à-vis China: its constrained human resources,” Wu said.
Such assets help circumvent challenges in maintaining large-scale personnel deployments and conventional artillery forces. “Taiwan’s defense against the larger enemy must avoid attrition warfare,” he said.
Given Taiwan’s location and the potential for a blockade, the ability to mass-produce drones and other munitions domestically is a logistical and strategic imperative. “Taiwan must develop cost-effective asymmetric weapons in large quantities during peacetime, reducing the risks of being cut off from weapon supplies during wartime,” Wu said.
More than 490 companies from 15 countries participated in the Taipei expo, which had the theme “Future Defense, Boundless Innovation” and was seen as a declaration of Taiwan’s determination to secure external partners while investing heavily in domestic development.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry displayed 20 major systems spanning joint operations hardware, uncrewed platforms and dual-use technologies, Taiwan’s Central News Agency noted. Highlights included a prototype Clouded Leopard eight-wheeled armored vehicle with enhanced mobility and the domestically built submarine Hai Kun, which was unveiled by state shipbuilder CSBC Corp.
“Taiwan seeks to demonstrate its commitment to self-defense,” Wu said, “both as a critical deterrent against Chinese aggression and as a prerequisite for securing political and military support from its partners.”
