Taiwan plans to purchase 1000 attack UAVs

The Taiwan Ministry of Defense has signed formal agreements with the US government, allowing it to buy as many as 1,000 attack drones from AeroVironment Inc. and Anduril Industries Inc.

Bloomberg reported on this.

At the end of September, Taiwanese officials signed an “offer and acceptance letter,” the last step towards signing firm contracts for the supply of products with volumes, prices, and delivery dates.

The source shared that the relevant contracts for 1,000 attack drones will be signed with the American companies AeroVironment and Anduril Industries in the near future.

The models of the unmanned systems that the Taiwanese military is interested in have not been disclosed. However, both companies offer kamikaze drones and reusable strike unmanned systems.

AeroVironment is known for its Switchblade series of attack drones, actively used in the Russian-Ukrainian war. These are the small anti-personnel version of the Switchblade 300 and the larger anti-tank Switchblade 600.

However, besides the media-famous UAVs, the company also produces VAPOR 55 MX multi-rotor bomber copters that can drop 40mm Shryke ammunition with GPS guidance.

Anduril Industries manufactures a wide range of attack drones, such as the ALTIUS 600 kamikaze drones with a range of up to 160 kilometers, as well as smaller Bolt-M reconnaissance and attack copters carrying a 1.4 kg warhead.

The Taiwanese military is actively studying and implementing the experience and innovations of the Russian-Ukrainian war in an effort to prepare its army for the escalation and potential invasion of the island nation by mainland China.

In addition to sophisticated unmanned systems, Taiwan’s armed forces are massively introducing FPV drones into the military structure of the ground forces to ensure an advantage on the battlefield.

The development of the new type of weapon has begun in military units, where soldiers are learning how to flash drones, install warheads, and repair them.

This month, the U.S. Department of State approved the possible sale of anti-aircraft missile systems and radars to Taiwan.