Taiwan's Defense Ministry wants to quadruple ammunition stockpiles in case of blockade

The Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan sent to the parliament a draft budget for 2027, suggesting an increase in ammunition stockpiles fourfold - from 30 to 120 days of fighting under the blockade, the Taipei Times writes.

The project is part of a six-year defense procurement program worth 27.59 billion new Taiwan dollars (almost $868.2 million). In early September, the head of the Strategic Planning Department, Lieutenant General Juan Wenci, said that it was necessary to accelerate the implementation of the program to replenish ammunition, which is actively consumed during frequent military exercises.

On September 3, the administration of the island approved the allocation of 7.3 billion local dollars for the replenishment of ammunition. The same amount is planned for the Ministry next year.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense tried to include the purchase of ammunition, as well as the expansion of local production lines in the Special Law on strengthening defense resilience and asymmetric capabilities with an eight-year budget of 1.25 trillion Taiwan dollars. However, the parliament limited the special budget to $ 780 billion, giving priority to the purchase of American weapons and eliminating the items of expenditure on general-purpose ammunition and the development of its own production facilities.

Ernest Philippowski