Taiwan poised to buy hundreds of armed sea drones to fend off China
Taiwan’s military is considering a plan to buy 200 armed sea drones to defend its coastline from a Chinese invasion.
The drones, uncrewed boats which would be equipped with sonar, radar and weapons, are currently being developed by the state-owned Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, the Taipei Times reported.
The Army and Navy are interested in the ability of the uncrewed boat programme to carry out coastal defence missions, potential strikes and to detect submarines and mines, it reported, citing an unnamed defence official.
Unmanned, remoted-controlled boats loaded with explosives have been used by Ukraine to devastating effect to target Russian ships and infrastructure in the Black Sea since Moscow’s invasion in 2022.
Last week, Ukrainian intelligence said seven people had been killed after the Sergei Kotov, a Russian patrol ship, was hit and sunk in a sea drone attack.
The country claims to be the first to have set up a specific unit dedicated to producing the lethal, advanced maritime drones.
Taiwan has been closely observing Ukraine’s innovative use of drone technology as it searches for ways to defend its territory from its much larger neighbour.
Over the past two years, President Tsai Ing-wen ordered the creation of a strategic plan to close the yawning gap between Taiwan and China’s drone programme.
Reuters reported last year that the island of 23.5 million has four drone types at its disposal and a fleet size of “hundreds”.
By contrast, China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, has an arsenal of tens of thousands of drones across more than 50 different types, including jet-powered, long range surveillance aircraft and small quadcopters operated by ground troops.
Under Taiwan’s newly formed “Drone National Team” plan, commercial drone makers and aviation and aerospace firms have been recruited to build a self-sufficient supply chain.
Beijing, too, is seeking to prioritise investment in emerging military technology including Artificial Intelligence, unmanned technologies, aerospace and cyberspace after announcing a 7.2 per cent hike in defence spending last week, reported the Global Times, a state media outlet.
On Monday, Tsai Ming-yen, Taiwan’s national security bureau chief, said China was also trying to “normalise” its military activities around Taiwanese territory, which it controversially claims as its own.
China runs “joint combat readiness patrols”, dispatching around 10 warplanes and three to four naval ships near the democratic island every seven-10 days on average, as part of a pressure campaign against Taiwan, said Mr Tsai.
