Military experts point out that the lackluster result of the latest exercise shows an urgent need in strengthening Taiwan's air defense capability. And plans for further missile purchases are advised to start as soon as possible.

The first large-scale missile test firing of President Ma Ying-jeou's term was conducted earlier this week.

According to KMT legislator and Foreign and National Defense Committee member Justin Chou, the exercise showed the people of Taiwan the strength of the national military, and showed the world Taiwan's commitment to national defense and defensive capabilities.

Taiwan's arms procurement deals with the U.S. have been delayed many times, and the government is not ruling out the possibility of procuring arms from other nations.

A number of the missiles that were tested, including Sky Bows and Hawks, were anti-air missiles.

Military experts say that the exercise demonstrated Taiwan's commitment to national defense, and that Taiwan has to be proactive about air defense in spite of delayed arms purchase deals.

In the next six years, Taiwan's missile program will be shored up with upgraded PAC-2 and PAC-3 Patriot missiles.

Experts are calling on the Ministry of National Defense to draw up plans for the next phase of missile acquisitions to replace outdated missiles and maintain at least a basic level of defensive capability.

As the new volunteer enlistment policy will go into effect in 2015, the military's "personnel maintenance" fees will go up.

Alexander Huang is calling for the national defense budget to be increased to prevent the additional expense from detrimentally affecting operational maintenance, military investment, weapons acquisitions, and research and development.

◆ 追蹤更多華視影音及圖文新聞：
1.用Plurk追蹤華視影音及圖文新聞：追蹤
2.用Twitter追蹤華視影音及圖文新聞：追蹤