Taiwan unveils “T-Dome” layered air-defense shield built partly with U.S. defense systems
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In Taipei on October 10, 2025, President Lai Ching-te formally disclosed “T-Dome,” a multi-layered national air and missile defense architecture designed to absorb swarms of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic threats.
In Taipei on October 10, 2025, President Lai Ching-te publicly detailed “T-Dome,” a national air and missile defense architecture built to withstand swarms of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic shots. In his remarks and follow-on interviews, Lai framed T Dome as a munitions-centric solution rather than a literal bubble, stressing that integration and magazine depth will decide whether Taiwan can ride out a prolonged coercive campaign. He also signaled that the effort will be resourced over multiple budgets, including a push to lift defense outlays toward 5 percent of GDP. The message was plain. Taiwan intends to field a layered shield that buys time, preserves critical nodes, and keeps the island’s military in the fight.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
A still image from a National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) video shows a graphical rendering of the Chiang Kung interceptor’s second stage moments before intercepting an incoming target. The inset displays footage from a live flight test conducted by NCSIST (Picture source: NCSIST)
The upper tier of the notional dome centers on a new indigenous interceptor family commonly described as Chiang Kung, evolving toward a Tien Kung IV capability with greater reach and higher endgame energy. Engagement ceilings advertised by Taiwanese officials point to shots well above traditional Patriot envelopes, using a two-stage, high-energy motor and modern active radar guidance to tackle medium altitude ballistic threats and high flying cruise missiles. A new generation of active electronically scanned array fire control radars supports this tier, tightening track quality and enabling early battle damage assessment so that scarce rounds are not wasted on kills already made.
Beneath that peak, the proven backbone remains Patriot and Sky Bow. Taiwan has moved to PAC-3 MSE to improve endgame agility against maneuvering targets and to compress the defended footprint around air bases, ports, and command infrastructure. Sky Bow III continues to give Taipei an indigenous, reloadable magazine with a similar mission set and fewer foreign bottlenecks. Both families have been exercised publicly in recent years to underscore their day-one role in any defense of the island. In T-Dome’s concept of operations, these batteries are networked and dispersed, firing from hardened and pre-surveyed sites with dummy emitters complicating adversary targeting.
The medium layer is where Taiwan has added real density. NASAMS launchers paired to AMRAAM-ER give commanders a flexible, mobile missile that can be hidden in urban canyons, rolled out, and fired within minutes. The system’s distributed architecture allows sensors and shooters to be separated by tens of kilometers, reducing the risk that a single successful strike wipes out both radar and launchers. Containerized rails can be replenished quickly, while the same missile family supports both air and ground launch, easing logistics and training.
The Antelope system, firing TC-1 infrared missiles from light trucks, protects maneuver units and key facilities against low-flying aircraft and drones. Skyguard batteries bring 35 mm Oerlikon guns with AHEAD programmable ammunition, a proven counter-drone and counter-rocket tool that detonates a cloud of sub-projectiles in front of the target. Some Skyguard units retain canisterized Sparrow missiles for added reach. This tier will shoulder much of the counter-drone and counter-RAM burden, guarding power stations, fuel farms, and runways where the cost per shot must stay sustainable.
Lai’s emphasis on high tech and AI points to a tighter command network that stitches together the long-range early warning radar, mobile 3D sensors, passive emitters, and each battery’s fire control. Done right, a high-altitude Chiang Kung engagement automatically triggers shoot look shoot logic, with immediate handoff to Patriot or NASAMS if a leaker is detected. AI-aided classification can sort quadcopters from cruise missiles in milliseconds, assigning AHEAD bursts or infrared shots to the right threat without flooding human operators.
Taiwanese dome’s composition is fundamentally different from the Israeli Iron Dome. Israel fields a system optimized for rockets with Tamir interceptors at its core. Taipei is building a stack that runs from heavy exo and high-end interceptors down through medium-range AMRAAM-ER and finally guns and very short-range missiles, all knitted by a national command web. In concept, it resembles the 360-degree defense the United States is assembling around Guam, not a single product line.
China’s large-scale joint drills and missile rehearsals are now routine, and the first days of a crisis would almost certainly test Taiwan with saturation attacks designed to blind radars, crater runways, and shock leadership. T Dome is an answer to that playbook. It spreads risk across many nodes, multiplies magazine depth, and keeps decision cycles tight. The long game will be industrial. A dome only holds if interceptors, spares, and crews rotate faster than the threat can regenerate, which is why Lai’s budget signals matter as much as the missiles themselves.
Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
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In Taipei on October 10, 2025, President Lai Ching-te formally disclosed “T-Dome,” a multi-layered national air and missile defense architecture designed to absorb swarms of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic threats.
In Taipei on October 10, 2025, President Lai Ching-te publicly detailed “T-Dome,” a national air and missile defense architecture built to withstand swarms of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic shots. In his remarks and follow-on interviews, Lai framed T Dome as a munitions-centric solution rather than a literal bubble, stressing that integration and magazine depth will decide whether Taiwan can ride out a prolonged coercive campaign. He also signaled that the effort will be resourced over multiple budgets, including a push to lift defense outlays toward 5 percent of GDP. The message was plain. Taiwan intends to field a layered shield that buys time, preserves critical nodes, and keeps the island’s military in the fight.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
A still image from a National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) video shows a graphical rendering of the Chiang Kung interceptor’s second stage moments before intercepting an incoming target. The inset displays footage from a live flight test conducted by NCSIST (Picture source: NCSIST)
The upper tier of the notional dome centers on a new indigenous interceptor family commonly described as Chiang Kung, evolving toward a Tien Kung IV capability with greater reach and higher endgame energy. Engagement ceilings advertised by Taiwanese officials point to shots well above traditional Patriot envelopes, using a two-stage, high-energy motor and modern active radar guidance to tackle medium altitude ballistic threats and high flying cruise missiles. A new generation of active electronically scanned array fire control radars supports this tier, tightening track quality and enabling early battle damage assessment so that scarce rounds are not wasted on kills already made.
Beneath that peak, the proven backbone remains Patriot and Sky Bow. Taiwan has moved to PAC-3 MSE to improve endgame agility against maneuvering targets and to compress the defended footprint around air bases, ports, and command infrastructure. Sky Bow III continues to give Taipei an indigenous, reloadable magazine with a similar mission set and fewer foreign bottlenecks. Both families have been exercised publicly in recent years to underscore their day-one role in any defense of the island. In T-Dome’s concept of operations, these batteries are networked and dispersed, firing from hardened and pre-surveyed sites with dummy emitters complicating adversary targeting.
The medium layer is where Taiwan has added real density. NASAMS launchers paired to AMRAAM-ER give commanders a flexible, mobile missile that can be hidden in urban canyons, rolled out, and fired within minutes. The system’s distributed architecture allows sensors and shooters to be separated by tens of kilometers, reducing the risk that a single successful strike wipes out both radar and launchers. Containerized rails can be replenished quickly, while the same missile family supports both air and ground launch, easing logistics and training.
The Antelope system, firing TC-1 infrared missiles from light trucks, protects maneuver units and key facilities against low-flying aircraft and drones. Skyguard batteries bring 35 mm Oerlikon guns with AHEAD programmable ammunition, a proven counter-drone and counter-rocket tool that detonates a cloud of sub-projectiles in front of the target. Some Skyguard units retain canisterized Sparrow missiles for added reach. This tier will shoulder much of the counter-drone and counter-RAM burden, guarding power stations, fuel farms, and runways where the cost per shot must stay sustainable.
Lai’s emphasis on high tech and AI points to a tighter command network that stitches together the long-range early warning radar, mobile 3D sensors, passive emitters, and each battery’s fire control. Done right, a high-altitude Chiang Kung engagement automatically triggers shoot look shoot logic, with immediate handoff to Patriot or NASAMS if a leaker is detected. AI-aided classification can sort quadcopters from cruise missiles in milliseconds, assigning AHEAD bursts or infrared shots to the right threat without flooding human operators.
Taiwanese dome’s composition is fundamentally different from the Israeli Iron Dome. Israel fields a system optimized for rockets with Tamir interceptors at its core. Taipei is building a stack that runs from heavy exo and high-end interceptors down through medium-range AMRAAM-ER and finally guns and very short-range missiles, all knitted by a national command web. In concept, it resembles the 360-degree defense the United States is assembling around Guam, not a single product line.
China’s large-scale joint drills and missile rehearsals are now routine, and the first days of a crisis would almost certainly test Taiwan with saturation attacks designed to blind radars, crater runways, and shock leadership. T Dome is an answer to that playbook. It spreads risk across many nodes, multiplies magazine depth, and keeps decision cycles tight. The long game will be industrial. A dome only holds if interceptors, spares, and crews rotate faster than the threat can regenerate, which is why Lai’s budget signals matter as much as the missiles themselves.
Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
