The US has sold kamikaze drones to Taiwan for more than NT$5.2 billion (US$161.66 million), Taiwan’s government e-procurement system showed today.
The two separate packages consist of 685 Switchblade 300 loitering munitions and related equipment at a cost of NT$1.74 billion, and 291 ALTIUS 600M-V drone systems and related equipment at a cost of NT$3.53 billion, which are to be delivered by 2029 and 2027 respectively, the system showed.
A loitering munition is a drone designed to loiter around a target area and attack enemy targets when spotted. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed to attack ground troops.
Photo: National Police of Ukraine press service via Reuters
The ALTIUS 600M-V is the warhead variant of the Anduril series of loitering munitions. It can be deployed from various platforms and in a networked swarm.
Taiwan’s military said drones are “standard equipment” for modernized armed forces and a kind of “innovative and asymmetrical” means of defense, adding that the procurement of the drones and missiles is necessary.
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.
The Ministry of National Defense’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year released earlier this year showed that the government plans to spend more than NT$10 billion to procure military drones.
The NT$5.2 billion cost for the two packages does not reach half of the ministry’s proposed budget.
The Pentagon has formed a “tiger team” to discuss foreign military sales and ensure that Taiwan has sufficient military capabilities, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said last year.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS