[Truth29]

What Taiwan needs is a dozen short to intermediate range nuclear tipped ballistic missiles. That would be a deterrent that Communist China would have to consider.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"But this air-defense system might not be sufficient to stop a Chinese invasion. Taiwan lies just 100 miles from mainland China, which officially considers Taiwan to be an illegal, breakaway province — and has threatened to invade in the invent that Taipei formally declares its independence." Couple of fully stocked Ohio Class subs parked somewhere could make the Chinese take pause. Would be interesting if Trump casually suggests he might sell the subs to Taiwan "without missiles" wink wink nod nod.

[Lazamataz]

 and has threatened to invade in the invent that Taipei formally declares its independence.

Sometimes, spellcheck is not enough.

[impactplayer]

This may be true, but the really sad part is that the Chaparral is far superior to the current Stinger missiles currently used by the US for short range air defense. The US did not go to Stinger for better performance, but to save on manpower. Chaparral has longer range and a better seeker. And because it uses thermal imaging it is very effective against stealth technology. However, I must agree they should complement Chaparral with a more robust layered air defense system with longer range capability.

[wbarmy]

What will savage the Chinese is the number of missiles. A whole lot of older generation missiles fired alongside a lot of newer generation missiles designed to overwhelm the system. If the Chinese focus on newer generation, some of the older get through. If they focus on older, the newer will blow them out of the water.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Missing a few facts. This is a 200 LB missile with almost a 30 pound warhead, and just needs to get close (proximity). It is also fairly cheap.

I would rate it a good investment, brute force and numbers as opposed to sexy expensive.

[mad_as_he$$]

https://smile.amazon.com/Fatal-Terrain-Dale-Brown/dp/0425162605/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482245460&sr=8-1&keywords=fatal+terrain

[PLMerite]

How much of the current PLAAF inventory is still basically pimped-out MiG-21s ?