S-400 can wipe out Taiwan’s air defense

In his recent article written for the Defense News, Wendell Minnick, an American military analyst, said on Dec. 6 that the People's Liberation Army's new S-400 purchased from Russia has the ability to completely wipe out Taiwan's air defense.

Reports from Russia indicated that China signed a US$3 billion contract to purchase enough S-400 surface-to-air missiles to equip its six air defense battalions based near its major eastern cities. Those missiles will be scattered along the coast facing Taiwan and Japan. With a range of 400 km, the missile can cover the entire air space of Taiwan, according to Vasiliy Kashin from the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies based in Moscow.

Once the S-400 is deployed, the Republic of China Air Force will be completely useless to stop China's anti-access and aera denial strategies even if it purchases F-16C/D fighters from the United States. "Given its extremely long range and effective electronic warfare capabilities, the S-400 is a game-changing system that challenges current military capabilities at the operational level of war," said Paul Giarra, the president of Global Strategies and Transformation.

Giarra said that the S-400 has the effect of turning a defense system into an offensive system and extends China's capability to carry out military operations over the territory of American allies and the high seas. York Chen, a former senior adviser of Taiwan's National Security Council also said that the S-400 missile can give China enough confidence to control the airspace over the Taiwan strait. It is likely to be used to wipe out the remaining fighters of the ROCAF after the PLA destroys Taiwan's air bases and runways.

To enhance Taiwan's defense against this new threat, Chen suggested the United States sell Taiwan F-35B fighters and V-22 cargo/troop transports with vertical take-off capabilities. With 1,300 short-range missiles, he believes that China is able to wipe out all air force bases in Taiwan in short order. In addition, it can be used to monitor Japanese and American activities over the disputed Diaoyutai islands as well.

Ian Easton, a researcher from the Project 2049 Institute, said that a countermeasure for Taiwan, Japan and the United States to defeat the S-400 exists. “As soon as its long-range radar is turned on, it would be subject to immediate interception by Taiwanese signals intelligence [SIGINT] units on Tung-yin island and Matsu island," said Easton. An official from the ROC defense ministry told Minnick that the S-400 is more likely to be deployed at fixed sites even though they are road-mobile.

Equipped with various weapon systems such as the Tien Kung 2 and Tien Kung 3 surface-to-air missiles and the Hsiung Feng 2E land-attack cruise missile, Taiwan still has the chance to destroy or intercept the S-400 during an early phase of the war. Yet Lin Chong-pin, former deputy minister of national defense in Taiwan, said that China is more likely to take over Taiwan with extra-military instruments such as economic, media-related, diplomatic, and psychological means — as it hopes to eventually integrate Taiwan into China.

Credit to China Times