The Military Police Command plans to order three US-made drone-killing mobile weapon systems to bolster defense in the vicinity of the Presidential Office Building against uncrewed aerial vehicle swarms of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
The military police, tasked with protecting key government sites and officials in Taipei, have been in talks with the US to acquire Northrop Grumman Mobile Acquisition, Cueing and Effector Systems (M-ACE) for the past two years, they said on condition of anonymity.
The M-ACE is a set of linked electro-optical/infrared sensors, radar and electronic warfare modules along with directed energy effectors and a 30mm Bushmaster chain gun that can be deployed in a variety of commercial and military vehicles.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
The system utilizes an artificial intelligence-boosted command and control architecture that allows operators to rapidly target and defeat hostile drones, it said.
M-ACEs have been in continuous operational use in Ukraine against invading Russian forces, it said.
The military police’s interest in M-ACE stems from the operational requirement to bolster its soft-kill capabilities with a kinetic system, the source said.
The military police in the past few years have acquired a slew of defensive and offensive uncrewed aerial vehicle capabilities, including Switchblade 300 loitering munition systems and reconnaissance drones, with M-ACEs expected to join their ranks, they said.
The Ministry of National Defense has yet to determine whether the project would be funded by its general budget or a special budget, despite the government’s directive to increase military spending to 3 percent of GDP, the source said.
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