Iran’s ability to sustain missile and drone strikes despite heavy US-Israeli attacks has sharpened a debate in Taiwan: if the island’s air defences were degraded in the early stages of a conflict with mainland China, could it still keep fighting?
The answer from officials, lawmakers and analysts was cautious but clear.
They said the island could be resilient – but only if it shifted away from a missile-heavy defensive mindset towards a more integrated, cost-effective and survivable system.
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Even after suffering heavy strikes, Tehran continued launching attacks – showing that resilience depended less on preventing damage than on sustaining operations, analysts said.
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“The real test is not whether you can intercept on day one, but on which day you start failing,” said Max Lo, executive director of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society in Taipei.
He said the Iran conflict showed that high-end defences were effective but also unsustainable.
