The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has included the funding needed to mass-produce Type-1 and Type-2 suicide drones in next year’s budget plan, a military source said yesterday.
Although the US government last month approved sales of Switchblade 300 loitering munitions and Altius 600M-V uncrewed aerial vehicles to Taiwan, which are scheduled for delivery between this year and the next, military leaders assessed that Taiwan would still have an inadequate number of attack drones to bolster national defense, the source said, asking to remain anonymous.
Taiwan needs to mass produce locally made attack drones, including Type-1 and Type-2 suicide drones, they said.
Photo: Taipei Times file
Meanwhile, mass production of Chien Hsiang anti-radiation drones, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, would be completed next year, they said.
The anti-radiation drone’s functions would be improved, while the ministry would continue to produce drones with enhanced functions at a smaller scale using the annual defense budget, the source said.
Chien Hsiang drones are designed to lock in on and attack radar stations, including those on ships, while Type-1 and Type-2 suicide drones are mainly used by ground troops on anti-armor missions, they said.
Similar to the Switchblade 300, Type-1 suicide drones are designed as easy-to-use equipment for soldiers and can be deployed quickly, the source said.
The flight time of a Type-1 suicide drone is about 15 minutes, with a guided control range exceeding 10km, institute data showed.
Type-2 suicide drones have a longer flight time, and can carry out reconnaissance and attack missions beyond visual range using imagery, infrared and microwave systems to trace targets. They can also be used for swarm attacks and can be installed on ships and vehicles.
In other news, the navy might conduct a sinking exercise during the one-month live-fire drills after the Han Kuang exercises.
The Sink Exercise (SINKEX) program is one of the highlights of the second phase of the Rim of the Pacific exercises, which are to begin today. Military units participating in the SINKEX exercise are to use a range of anti-ship weapons to sink the retired 40,000-tonne USS Tarawa, an amphibious assault ship.
The Maritime and Port Bureau on Friday announced that the navy is to conduct live-fire training from July 30 to Aug. 30.
The drills would be conducted in three main areas.
The first area would be in the waters and airspace east of Taitung and Pingtung counties, and west of Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), the bureau said.
The second area covers the sea and airspace extending from the east coast of Taiwan more than 140km from the east coasts of Green and Orchid islands.
The third area covers sea and airspace south of Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) and Orchid island.
The live-fire training would be conducted by the Navy Command Headquarters, rather than by the Chungshan Institute as in the past, the bulletin said.
Based on what the navy is currently using, the live-fire training could include anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles, such as Hsiung Feng III missiles, which are capable of destroying land-based and naval targets.
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