President Ma nodded. “Your people have done a lot to aid our country. We are forever in your debt for the help you have given. I do not mean to appear ungrateful or suggest that what you have provided isn’t enough or won’t make a difference. I believe it will. We are facing more than just the world’s largest navy. Should it come to war, our country will likely be swarmed with one-way kamikaze drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, and this is before the PLA Air Force and Army helicopters swarm the skies over our country. How do you plan to help us deal with this threat — or do we just have to absorb it?”
Harrington motioned for Mitchell to continue his brief. “Mr. President, that’s something we have considered as well and it’s something we have a solution for,” Mitchell said eagerly as he resumed his brief. “To answer your question about air defense, we have you covered. As of right now, your Air Force has ten Patriot PAC-3 batteries with eight launchers per battery fitted with a mix of CRI, MSE, and GEM-T interceptors. This gives your forces a total of eighty launchers with four missiles apiece or three hundred twenty missiles. We’re providing an additional five batteries with eight launchers apiece, bringing an additional hundred and sixty missiles.”
Defense Minister Kao’s eyes widened. “Whoa, wait a second. You’re saying you somehow managed to find and then cut through mountains of red tape to deliver five additional Patriot batteries? That gives us a starting missile capacity of four hundred and eighty interceptors! How in the hell did you manage to do that?” She stumbled over her words, dumbfounded by the news.
Harrington interjected, responding to her question directly. “Minister Kao, on behalf of my country, I must apologize for the unprecedented years’ worth of delays your country has endured. I wish there were a way for me to undo the unquestionable mistakes of the past in delivering these kinds of weapon systems you purchased earlier, but I can’t. I can, however, assure you we worked miracles with National Security Advisor Batista and President Ashford to expedite the delivery of these systems to your country now.”
Minister Kao bowed her head slightly, seeming to accept his apology. She then motioned for him to continue.
“In addition to strengthening your air and missile defense capability, we’ve also finished delivering, as of this morning, three thousand Anduril Industries Roadrunner Block III interceptors,” Harrington went on with a mischievous grin. “This is the newest generation of Anduril’s flagship reusable interceptor and has been upgraded to use a multiband radar plus IR and even LIDAR targeting system. Its range has been increased from ten kilometers to twenty, and it boasts a top speed of Mach 2.6. When we integrate this with the Patriot batteries. The airspace over your country is going to be difficult at best for the PLA to defeat — effectively creating the porcupine effect we believe will deter the PLA from even attempting to seize it.”
Mitchell pulled up another screen as Harrington finished. “Turning Taiwan into a porcupine is only part of the solution. We also need to make sure the PLA knows if they try to seize your country militarily, you can throw a few punches of your own. It’s a lesson we learned from the Russo-Ukraine War. It’s not enough to defeat the drones and missiles being fired at you. You have to fire a few back at ’em and hit ’em where it hurts. This is where the offensive package we’re providing will come into play. One of the keys of deterrence is being able to hit back. To accomplish this, we’ve once again turned to Anduril Industries’ Barracuda autonomous cruise missiles. We procured a varying number of all three variants. The 100 series is for close work, sixty miles if ground-launched and eighty-five miles if launched from an aircraft. It packs a forty-pound kinetic or modular warhead. The Barracuda-250s are for medium range, one hundred and fifty miles if ground-launched and two hundred if fired from an aircraft. Its warhead size is the same as the 100 series. The 500 series is your deep-strikes option. It has a range of five hundred and fifty miles if ground-launched and one thousand miles if air-launched. It also packs a larger punch, with a one-hundred-pound warhead.”
Mitchell paused a second as he read something on his tablet. “Our final delivery should arrive on March thirtieth. Oh, ha-ha, I told you what they are, but I forgot to tell you how many. My bad.” The others just stared at him, waiting for him to get to the point. “Um, yeah, so, a total of eighteen of ’em are on the way. Five hundred of the Barracuda-500s, seven hundred of the 250s, and the remaining six hundred of the shorter-range Barracuda-100s.”
