Taiwan Unveils T-Dome to Defend Peace Through Readiness

Lai Ching-te(R) greeting the crowd with a crossed finger gesture after delivering his speech on Taiwan’s National Day, October 10, 2025.

When President Lai Ching-te unveiled Taiwan’s T-Dome air and missile defense system on National Day, October 10, 2025, the message to Beijing was unmistakable: Taiwan is done waiting to see what comes next.

Taiwan’s T-Dome, the island’s most up-to-date effort to build credible deterrence against China, is a sophisticated, multi-layered air defense network designed to counter diverse aerial threats, from drones to ballistic missiles, by integrating advanced radar systems, interceptor missiles like the domestically developed Sky Bow III and U.S.-supplied Patriot batteries, as well as short-range Stinger missiles. Its AI-driven ‘sensor-to-shooter’ architecture is particularly noteworthy for its capacity to fuse data from radar arrays and sensors to coordinate rapid, precise interception while utilizing mobile launchers and hardened command centers to ensure resilience during sustained attacks. Prioritizing overlapping protection of critical infrastructure and command nodes in strategic areas such as Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung, the Lai administration has positioned the T-Dome as the centerpiece of its defense modernization agenda, anchored in resilience and indigenous innovation. To maintain operational capacity amid growing Chinese military pressure, Taipei now aims to strategically invest in T-Dome. By 2026, Taiwan plans to push defense spending past 3 percent of GDP, targeting 5 percent by 2030.

The urgency in Taiwan demonstrated by the T-Dome is clear. Beijing now asserts sovereignty over Taiwan and continues to refuse to rule out the use of force to achieve unification. Throughout 2025, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) significantly expanded its operational reach around Taiwan. The Chinese air force deployed advanced fighter jets such as the J-10, J-16, and J-20, which can now reach Taiwan from bases deep within China without refueling. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported that PLA aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over 245 times per month in 2025, a steep increase from fewer than 10 times per month five years earlier. Alongside its increased intrusion into the ADIZ, it is estimated that PLA aircraft are crossing the Taiwan Strait median line roughly 120 times monthly, marking unprecedented levels of military pressure on Taiwan.

This heightened activity reached a new peak in early April 2025, when the PLA conducted its largest exercise to date, ‘Strait Thunder-2025A’ on April 1–2. This operation, the biggest since 2024’s ‘Joint Sword 2024B,’ further escalated tensions across the strait while politically propagandizing the Lai administration as ‘verminous insects’ conspiring for ‘Taiwan independence.’ The exercise simulated precision strikes against Taiwan’s energy infrastructure and ports, involving 76 aircraft sorties (37 crossing the Taiwan Strait median line), over 15 naval vessels including the Shandong carrier group, and coast guard ships extending outside the First Island Chain. The increasing instances of escalatory activities are part of the PLA’s broader “gray zone” campaign, designed to exhaust Taiwan’s defenses without triggering open warfare. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry analyzes that China is honing such capabilities for a possible military operation as early as 2027, aligned with major PLA modernization milestones.

The U.S. continuously seeks peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait

With respect to Lai’s announcement of the T-Dome, the U.S. Department of State expressed continuous American support for Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen its defensive and deterrence capabilities. Ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait remains the United States’ highest priority and serves as the fundamental purpose of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). Enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1979, following President Jimmy Carter’s formal recognition of the People’s Republic of China, the TRA provides the essential legal framework that guarantees Taiwan’s ability to maintain adequate self-defense capabilities in response to evolving threats. The Act also underpins the continuation of robust U.S. commercial, cultural, and defensive relations with Taiwan. Since its enactment, key developments under the TRA include the establishment of the American Institute in Taiwan, which manages unofficial relations, and congressional mandates ensuring that the United States stays prepared to effectively respond to any threats to Taiwan’s security.