Taiwan-Made Drones and Unmanned Boats Go on Show in Washington Expo
A Taiwanese company has showcased its drones and unmanned boats at the annual US Army expo in Washington — just as Taiwan launches new policies to boost its drone industry.
Thunder Tiger’s Taiwan-Made Drones and Unmanned Boats Showcased in Washington
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Totally self-made, integrated with AI, this is the Overkill FPV drone system, built by Taiwanese manufacturer Thunder Tiger.
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The drone has made its way onto the international stage, appearing at this year’s conference of the Association of the United States Army in Washington, D.C.
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Along with this unmanned attack boat, that’s able to resist electronic jamming, operate in coordinated swarms, and it’s even passed sea trials. It‘s a system Taiwan hopes will strengthen its ability to defend itself against larger forces, such as the Chinese military.
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The most important thing is for the vehicle itself to be made in Taiwan.
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All the electronic components and even the motors are entirely made in Taiwan.
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In September, the Overkill FPV received Blue UAS certification from the US Defense Innovation Unit, the first Taiwanese drone maker to be recognized in this way.
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This certification ensures the drone is free of security risks, especially since 90% of drone motors are typically made in China.
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The company says the certification also opens the door to closer collaboration with international partners.
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We’ve won acceptance from our allies, especially the US military, and also from the EU, notably within NATO. We’ve been given a kind of pass.
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That pass basically allows allies to support each other with unmanned systems for asymmetric warfare.
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In recent years, Taiwan has been working to build a “non-red” supply chain for its defense industry — that is, one that is free from Chinese components and influence.
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To support this goal, Taiwan is setting up the Defense Innovation Office to bring in private-sector technology and align it with industrial policy, with a view to building up domestic capabilities in drone production.
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The most important thing is to cut the cost of weapons development and production.
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That means using commercial, off-the-shelf components as the main building blocks for all military products and equipment.
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When developing a system, you don’t have to specially design every single part to strict military specs.
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Doing that makes costs extremely high.
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At the same time, the economy ministry says the government will start coordinating resources across agencies and plans to invest more than 1.3 billion US dollars by 2030 to boost the unmanned systems industry. Hoping to drive growth in the domestic ICT, semiconductor and defense sectors.
