Following Israel's lead, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te officially announced and introduced the name "T-Dome" in his speech on Taiwan's National Day (Double Ten Day) on October 10, 2025.
Although integrated multi-layered air defense systems (such as the Patriot and Tien Kung) already existed, the name T-Dome (short for Taiwan Dome) is a new label given by the government to define and accelerate the modernization and integration efforts of the national air defense system.
- The use of this name, clearly inspired by Israel's Iron Dome and the US's Golden Dome, signals Taiwan's emphasis on developing layered defense capabilities amidst the growing threat from China.
- Military experts and Taiwanese officials confirm that the name "T-Dome" was deliberately chosen to draw inspiration from Israel's Iron Dome. However, T-Dome is not just a short-range rocket interceptor like Iron Dome, but a far more comprehensive defense system. T-Dome is a multi-layered integrated air defense system, intended to create a "safety net" over Taiwan to protect against increasingly sophisticated military threats from China.
T-Dome integrates all of Taiwan's existing and newly developed air defense assets into a single, efficient command and control system. The focus is on Sensor-to-Shooter System Integration, a key aspect. T-Dome will adopt a mechanism similar to the US Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS). The goal is to rapidly link detection radars (sensors) with weapon systems (shooters) for faster response and a higher kill rate.
Furthermore, the Multi-Layered Defense system is designed to counter a variety of threats at all altitudes: ballistic missiles, fighter jets, and even drones (UAS). T-Dome will also integrate existing systems such as the US-made Patriot, the Taiwanese-made Tien Kung (Sky Bow), and other short-range missiles, as well as newer anti-drone systems (C-UAS).
- The T-Dome development plan will integrate advanced technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), to process radar data and coordinate targeting more effectively.
- While inspired by the Iron Dome, the T-Dome has a broader threat coverage, making it more similar to the nation-level integrated missile defense systems used by the US, Japan, or South Korea.
More Like Steel Dome (Türkiye)
In essence, Taiwan's T-Dome is much more similar to Turkey's Steel Dome than Israel's Iron Dome. The T-Dome (Taiwan Dome) is indeed very similar to Turkey's Steel Dome (Çelik Kubbe), as both share the same defense philosophy: a multi-layered, integrated air defense system designed to protect the country's entire airspace from a wide range of threats, not just short-range rockets.
Both systems (T-Dome and Steel Dome) aim to combine multiple defense systems (short-, medium-, and long-range) under a single command and control system to maximize efficiency and interception rate (kill rate).
Because T-Dome is a major integration initiative, its implementation targets are divided into budgetary and long-term development phases. The Taiwanese government plans to submit a special military budget proposal by the end of 2025 (before the end of the fiscal year) to fund the procurement and initial integration of the T-Dome system.
Military officials stated that "initial integration" of the sensor-to-shooter mechanism is expected to begin immediately after budget approval.
President Lai Ching-te linked the T-Dome's development to a larger defense budget target, indicating that its full implementation would take years. While no specific timeline for the T-Dome's full national operation has been given, analysts consider the 5% GDP budget target by 2030 to be an indicative timeline by which Taiwan hopes this major integration project will reach operational maturity.
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