The development of a fully domestic drone manufacturing supply chain is crucial to Taiwan’s ability to use the uncrewed aircraft effectively during wartime, a recent report from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research said.
Ukraine’s experience in resisting Russia’s invasion demonstrated that civilian drones can provide valuable intelligence during wartime, but they must be manufactured domestically to ensure that foreign component makers cannot take control of the devices, the report said.
In the report, institute researcher Chen Po-hung (陳柏宏) analyzed the security of Taiwan’s drone supply chain.
Photo: Lo Pei-te, Taipei Times
Ukrainians have used civilian drones to locate Russian convoys and other targets, he said, adding that drones have also helped them document battlefield conditions and gather evidence of war crimes.
“There are 78,000 civilian drones registered in Taiwan. That can definitely be a defensive advantage, but it depends on where the drones and their components are manufactured,” he said.
Citing an example of how China-made drones could be more of a bane than a boon on the battlefield, Chen said that drones made by Shenzhen DJI Sciences and Technologies Ltd and used by Ukrainian forces have allegedly been disabled by the company’s AeroScope technology.
The drones’ locations have also allegedly been shared with Russian forces to facilitate targeted bombardment of Ukrainian forces, he said.
The company has denied the allegations, saying that affected drones likely experienced signal issues, but doubts have remained, Chen said.
Taiwan’s supply chain faces several problems, such as a lack of raw materials and a small market, requiring the outsourcing of engines and other major components, he said.
“There are other challenges, like scale of production, integration capabilities and a lack of some key technologies,” Chen said. “There is a huge gap between civilian and military drones, and Taiwan is not able to compete on an international level in the drone industry, despite thriving domestic interest.”
The government must find a way to ensure that it can fully produce civilian drones locally if they are to be used in wartime, he said.
Taiwan’s state-run weapons developer last week said that it would complete the production of 104 domestically developed Chien Hsiang (劍翔) “suicide drones” by 2025.
An anti-radiation suicide drone — which targets enemy radar by detecting its electromagnetic emissions — has a maximum flight time of five hours and can strike targets 1,000km away, with an ability to target seaborne, coastal and inland Chinese radar systems, said Chi Li-ping (齊立平), head of the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Aeronautical Systems Research Division.
The institute’s Teng Yun (騰雲) drone is to enter mass production after it passes a combat readiness evaluation next year, Chi said.
The Teng Yun, which is to be used primarily for reconnaissance, comes with synthetic aperture radar and can be controlled via satellite, Chi said, adding that it has a maximum range of 1,100km and a 20-hour flight time.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS