Jared McKinney is an assistant professor at Air War College. Reiss Oltman is an Air University fellow in the Department of Joint Warfighting, Air Command and Staff College. McKinney founded, and Oltman helps run, the Air University Taiwan Deterrence Research Task Force.
In response to President-elect Donald Trump’s initial appointments of “China hawks” to key national security positions, Taiwan is reportedly considering requesting a “big package of U.S. weapons” to show it is “serious” about protecting itself. The request is said to potentially include 10 Ticonderoga cruisers and Perry frigates, 60 F-35s, 4 E-2D Hawkeye aircraft, and 400 Patriot interceptors, for a total of some $15 billion.