The government is to spend more than NT$10 billion (US$312.73 million) to procure military drones, based on the Ministry of National Defense’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
Of the NT$647 billion allocated to overall defense spending next year, NT$467.5 billion is to be used to fund ministry operations.
The budget proposal shows the ministry would dedicate NT$145.8 billion from its operational fund to military investment, particularly to building submarines and to purchasing military drones.
Photo: Screen grab from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ Web site
The Executive Yuan last week approved the ministry’s plan to build seven advanced submarines in the next 14 years, at an estimated cost of NT$28.4 billion, with an initial investment of NT$2 billion listed in the budget proposal for next year.
Ministry of National Defense comptroller Lieutenant General Hsieh Chi-hsien (謝其賢) told reporters at a news conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting last week that a significant portion of the operational fund would be used to procure military and commercial drones as well.
The budget proposal includes NT$2.26 billion to continue funding six ongoing drone procurement contracts, purchasing 320 microdrones, 30 target drones, 12 land surveillance drones, 12 ship-based surveillance drones, 805 surveillance drones and 96 tactical short-range drones.
The ministry also plans to spend NT$6.83 billion next year buying four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, with the first batch scheduled to be delivered by 2026.
Aside from seven drone-related projects, the ministry has since 2022 been procuring Chien Hsiang (劍翔) anti-radiation drones from the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology. Approximately NT$3 billion of the NT$120 billion project is to be listed in next year’s budget proposal.
The US government in June agreed to sell more than 1,000 Switchblade 300 and Altius 600M-V loitering munition drones to Taiwan, at an estimated cost of US$360.2 million. As delivery of the drones is scheduled to begin next year, the ministry is likely to begin budgeting the payment for next year.
The institute has also been tasked with building Teng Yun (騰雲, “Cloud Rider”) combat drones, Albatross II (銳鳶二型) drones, Cardinal III (紅雀三型) coastal surveillance drones, as well as loitering munition systems, although the budget for the projects has yet to be disclosed.
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