WHAT IS IT?
The T-Dome was announced by Lai on Oct 10 and has drawn comparisons with Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system.
But there are key differences.
While the Iron Dome is designed mainly for short-range weapons, the T-Dome will face a “much wider array of threats”, Taipei-based security analyst J. Michael Cole said.
“This is aimed at PLA aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as, increasingly, drones,” said Cole, using the acronym for China’s People’s Liberation Army.
Taiwan already has air defence systems, including the US-built Patriot and domestically-made Sky Bow systems.
And it is waiting to receive National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System fire units from the US.
The T-Dome will integrate these with radars, sensors and other advanced technology to provide what Lai describes as “high-level detection and effective interception”.
“If you do not integrate these detection devices, then those air-defence missiles, whether for counter-fire, counter-attack or counter-drone purposes, can’t achieve efficient interception or effective fire coordination and allocation,” Defence Minister Wellington Koo has said.
The T-Dome will have two major components, said Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at Taipei’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
It will have a command and control system that “collects radar data, identifies threats, decides which interceptor should fire, and coordinates all units so they react within seconds,” Su said.
The other part will be the “interceptor layer” – the weapons used to “shoot down incoming threats” at different altitudes.
Source: CNA
