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【Text/Observer.com】According to Taiwan's United News Network, the Taiwan Executive Department approved the total budget for next year yesterday, which is expected to be submitted to the Taiwan Legislative Department for review at the end of this month. The report said that the budget revenue and expenditure for next year will exceed NT$3 trillion (equivalent to RMB 669.9 billion), of which the overall military budget will reach NT$647 billion (equivalent to RMB 144.48 billion), setting a historical record.

The report mentioned that in this military budget, the projects managed by the Taiwan Defense Department are about NT$476 billion (equivalent to about RMB 106.3 billion), and the rest are new combat aircraft procurement, "sea and air combat capability enhancement plan procurement special budget" and other projects, totaling NT$647 billion, accounting for about 2.5% of the island's GDP, an increase of NT$46 billion compared to the 2024 military budget, an increase of about 7.7%. The Taiwan Defense Department said yesterday that in addition to the salary subsidies and other mandatory expenditures required for personnel maintenance, the military budget for next year will focus on "self-manufacturing" of aircraft and ships on the island, maintaining the equipment availability rate, and accelerating the improvement of the so-called "asymmetric warfare capability", "reserve combat capability" and "combat command resilience."

The Taiwan authorities have purchased 66 newly producedF-16 Block70/72 (i.e.F-16VNewly built aircraft), which has not yet started delivery, the picture shows the F-16V model painted in the color of the Taiwan military displayed by Lockheed Martin on social media

In addition, the head of the Taiwan Administrative Department, Zhuo Rongtai, also approved a plan for the island to make its own conventional-powered submarines yesterday afternoon. The content is to budget a total of about NT$284.0808 billion (equivalent to about RMB 63.435 billion) for the 14 years from 2025 to 2038 to "prepare for the construction of a total of 7 new submarines for mass production", and to include more than NT$2 billion in the military budget for next year.

Jie Zhong from a think tank research institute on the island said that although he supports "self-made submarines" to enhance "defense capabilities", the mass production budget for a piece of equipment should be compiled step by step. However, for "self-made submarines", a "mass production budget" with a huge amount of money and a very long time span has been finalized even when the first prototype has not yet been tested at sea and the mass production configuration cannot be determined.

Guancha.com military commentator believes that this plan was made to please Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te to a large extent, and it may also be a direct order from Lai himself. In March this year, Lai Ching-te, who had not yet assumed his current position, accompanied Tsai Ing-wen to secretly inspect the first prototype submarine "Haikun" which had just been "launched". After listening to the relevant briefing, Lai immediately decided to support the direct mass production of the subsequent 7 submarines, even though the "Haikun" had not yet undergone any major sea tests. The plan approved by Zhuo Rongtai this time is exactly the same as Lai Ching-te's statement at the time.

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