U.S. Government bureaucrats slow rolled the program, Taiwan prevailed
Both “Prickly” and “Prestige” weapons are necessary and important capabilities for Taiwan to deter and if necessary, defeat Chinese invasion. With Taiwan’s significantly increased defense budget and the 2023 NDAA WWII-like Lend Lease provisions for Taiwan, both Prickly and Prestige weapons can be put into service with alacrity.
During our Cyber Bi-Lats between Taiwan Ministry of National Defense and the Department of Defense, the out of the gate, opening statement from the Taiwan MND lead was always, “We need M-1 tanks and submarines”. I told them I’d fight like hell to make sure they got these. The bureaucrats in the Pentagon, the Intelligence Community, and the National Security Council would roll their eyes when I briefed this out.
Now Taiwan has both Prickly and Prestige weapons.