The military plans to invest NT$6.89 billion (US$215.73 million) to purchase six types of drones to bolster the nation’s asymmetrical combat capabilities, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
Three of the six types of drones fall under the categories “surveillance and reconnaissance,” “land-based surveillance and reconnaissance” and “ship-mounted surveillance and reconnaissance,” while the other three are micro-drones, including “target acquisition” and “tactical” drones, it said.
The ministry said it would acquire the surveillance and reconnaissance drones, while the land and ship drones would be purchased by the navy and the micro-drones would be purchased by the army.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Procurement of the surveillance and reconnaissance drones and the navy’s ship-mounted drones is estimated to be completed before the end of next year, the ministry said.
The army hopes to obtain all three types of micro-drones by the end of September 2027, it said.
The navy’s land-based drones would be acquired over four years, with the last purchase expected to be made in October 2028, it said.
Taiwan UAV (智飛科技), Coretronic Robotics (中光電), MiTAC Information Technology Corp (神通資訊) and Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp (EVGA, 長榮航太) obtained the bids for the drones, the ministry said.
Taiwan UAV would focus on the development of land-based reconnaissance and monitoring drones; EVGA would develop ship-based surveillance and reconnaissance drones; Coretronic would develop surveillance and reconnaissance, and micro-drones; and MiTAC would develop micro-drones, as well as a tactical micro-drone, it said.
The tactical micro-drone would cost an additional NT$1.19 billion, the ministry said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
RSS