Taiwanese fighter jet developer Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) has partnered with US-based defense technology firm Shield AI to develop an advanced uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) ecosystem to enhance Taiwan’s defense capabilities.
Shield AI yesterday said in a statement that it and AIDC have signed an agreement to enhance Taiwan’s aerospace industrial base and improve collaborative technological innovations.
Under the agreement, both sides would focus on sustainment, training, autonomy and integration among other technical initiatives to ensure Shield AI’s products can be deployed, supported and scaled in Taiwan, it said.
Photo: Screen grab from the Defense Visual Information Distribution System’s Web site
“Teaming up with Shield AI, one of America’s most cutting-edge defense technology companies, demonstrates AIDC’s ability to move quickly and decisively with world-class innovators in a rapidly evolving defense tech ecosystem,” the statement quoted an unnamed AIDC spokesperson as saying.
“Shield AI’s state-of-the-art mission autonomy and aircraft, such as its V-BAT drone, combined with AIDC’s decades of aerospace manufacturing experience, will strengthen Taiwan’s defense and deterrence capabilities, and supercharge Taiwan’s local drone and aerospace industry,” they added.
As part of the agreement, AIDC would provide maintenance services in Taiwan for products supplied by Shield AI, eliminating the need to send products back to Shield AI’s US facilities, AIDC said in a separate statement.
Shield AI would provide training and cultivate engineering technology talent in Taiwan to build technology capabilities, it said.
The two companies would integrate their own software and hardware resources to produce highly efficient and competitive products, it said.
Shield AI cofounder and president Brandon Tseng praised AIDC and their partnership in his company’s statement.
“As the largest and most capable defense prime in Taiwan, our work with AIDC is really about accelerating Taiwan’s local drone and aerospace industry as they ramp up next generation deterrence capabilities now and for the next two decades. This is going to be a fantastic, long-term partnership,” Tseng said.
Tseng, a former US Navy SEAL, earlier this year wrote on X that his dad and aunts grew up in Taiwan and South America after his grandparents fled China following the Chinese Civil War.
AIDC said the partnership is expected to pave the way for the Taiwanese firm to produce components of Shield AI’s drones in Taiwan with the aim of rapidly growing the nation’s UAV industry.
Shield AI said it would demonstrate its innovations at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition from Thursday to Saturday.
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