2004 US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference

The United States–Taiwan Defense Industry Conference 2004 was held October 3-5, 2004 in Scottsdale, Arizona. This was the third in a series of ongoing conferences addressing the future of U.S. defense cooperation with Taiwan, the defense procurement process, and providing a progress report on Taiwan’s future defense needs. The conference also looked in-depth at Taiwan’s C4ISR, submarine, and missile defense programs.

This year, the conference featured keynote addresses by a variety of speakers, including an address by General Huoh Shoou-yeh, Deputy Minister for Armaments at the Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan, and Richard Lawless, Deputy Under Secretary, International Security Affairs – Asia Pacific, at the U.S. Department of Defense.

Sessions at the United States-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference featured one moderator and several speakers. Each speaker presented a short summary of a paper on the session topic from his or her own viewpoint, followed by a moderator-driven question and answer period. This format provides the maximum amount of time for exchanges between the panel and the audience, offering a forum for substantial and valuable interaction and discussion.

Three sub-sessions within Session IV concentrated on each branch of the services: Army, Air Force, and Navy. These sessions consisted of discussions focusing on current issues from the perspective of each individual branch.