Taiwan plans first weapons purchases for T-Dome to counter China

Yian Lee, Bloomberg News on Nov 30, 2025

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Taiwan plans to buy its first weapons for a major air-defense system announced less than two months ago, underscoring Taipei’s urgency to get the program online as China escalates its military intimidation.

The Defense Ministry is working with the de facto U.S. embassy to acquire Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Integrated Battle Command System so it can link domestically made weapons to it, the Taipei-based United Daily News reported on Monday, without saying where it got the information. The IBCS connects sensors and weapons into one platform that allows for quickly targeting and attacking threats.

The procurement will also include more Patriot PAC-3 systems and upgrades to Taiwan’s existing Patriot batteries, according to UDN.

When reporters asked Defense Minister Wellington Koo about the reported arms purchase in Taipei, he said he wouldn’t comment yet on “specific cases.” The American Institute in Taiwan said it does not comment on weapons sales until the American Congress has been notified.

President Lai Ching-te said in October that Taiwan would speed up building a system known as T-Dome to protect the self-run democracy from aerial attacks, a move that pushed forward his campaign to better deter China from any invasion. The T-Dome program would provide “multi-layered defense, high-level detection and effective interception,” he said at the time. His government has provided few details about T-Dome.

Beijing has ramped up its military intimidation of the archipelago in recent years, especially since Lai took office in 2024. China sees Taiwan as lost territory that must be brought under its control, by force if necessary — a stance Taipei firmly rejects. The U.S. is Taiwan’s main military backer and regularly sells weaponry to the archipelago for its defense.

Last week, Lai said Taiwan plans to spend an extra $40 billion on its defenses via a supplementary military budget. The money for the weapons bought from the U.S. for T-Dome will be partly funded by that budget, the UDN report said.