F-35s for Taiwan: Will US cross China’s ‘red line’?
Taiwan’s National Security Council has made repeated requests to the Trump White House for the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter, a high-level US defence industry source has confirmed to Shephard.
With Trump in the Oval Office, and what can best be described as a pro-Taiwan defence inner circle advising the president, the sale of F-35 fighters has suddenly risen from the dead.
However, the Trump administration is still struggling to fill positions in the State Department and Department of Defense (DoD) at the secretary and deputy/under/assistant level. As a result, the source said not to expect a quick decision on
Our news & analysis is now part of Defence Insight®
A Basic-level or higher Defence Insight subscription is now required to view this content.
More from Defence Notes
-
Ukraine turns legacy Kongsberg land turrets into semi-autonomous USV weapons
The company told Shephard that Ukraine is operating modified Protector weapon stations originally supplied for armoured vehicles, with human operators authorising engagements from hundreds of kilometres away.
-
UK urged to prioritise sea, air and space over heavy armour
A report from the Council on Geostrategy argues the UK should move away from a traditional balanced force and shift investment to naval, air and space capabilities, backed by a larger fleet of attack submarines and deeper AUKUS integration.
-
Thales: deployment speed to determine winners in ‘production versus production’ era
At its technology summit in London, attended by Shephard, Thales UK examined the importance of speed to delivery, the growing focus on cross-domain capabilities and how procurement reform could be crucial for future battlefield advantage.
-
Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain
Are all systems ready for the next mission? Have upgrades been applied? Are all assets aligned to deploy together, on time and fully prepared? In modern defence operations, readiness is no longer measured platform by platform. It is measured by how well people, assets, data and decisions move together — across land, sea and air.