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.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
Japanese Councilor Hei Seki (石平) on Wednesday said that he plans to visit Taiwan, saying that would “prove that Taiwan is an independent country and does not belong to China.” Seki, a member of the Japan Innovation Party, was born in Chengdu in China’s Sichuan Province and became a naturalized Japanese in 2007. He was elected to the House of Concilors last year. His views on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — espoused in a series of books on politics and history — prompted Beijing to sanction him, including barring Seki from traveling to China. Seki wrote on X that he intends
RSS