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.
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in
RSS