Taiwan’s military and US-based Kratos Defense have successfully tested a new jet-powered attack drone, a move aimed at rapidly boosting the nation’s ability to field “large numbers” of low-cost drones amid a rising Chinese threat.
In a recent test campaign at Kratos’ facility in Oklahoma City, engineers from both sides validated the integration of a Taiwanese mission payload on the Mighty Hornet IV attack drone, Kratos said in a statement on Thursday.
Kratos called the test a “milestone” that could pave the way for deeper cooperation between the company and the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, AFP
The effort comes as Taiwan seeks to expand security ties with the US, including jointly developing and manufacturing weapons.
In a statement, the institute described the project as a “new milestone in US-Taiwan defense technology collaboration,” saying such cooperation could shorten development timelines and meet Taiwan’s needs for “rapid countermeasures and long-range pre-emptive strikes.”
The Mighty Hornet IV is being developed as a low-cost, cruise missile-like weapon, and the two sides aim to base a “large quantity” of the systems in Taiwan as both a deterrent and a wartime asset, Kratos said.
China has been sending warplanes and warships into the skies and waters around Taiwan on an almost daily basis in what Taipei calls “gray zone” tactics. It held its latest large-scale war games near the nation in late December last year.
The number of detected Chinese military aircraft — including fighters and drones — operating near Taiwan rose 23 percent last year from a year earlier, the Ministry of National Defense said this week.
Taipei has been working to secure cheaper, more numerous uncrewed systems that are key to complicating any potential Chinese attack.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS