Taiwan Seeks To Buy 1,000 Attack Drones From the U.S. by 2030｜TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan's military is spending big on what it thinks is the future of warfare. Unmanned and portable systems like these suicide drones. Taiwan announced plans to spend more than 160 million U.S. dollars on beefing up its drone fleet in June. On Tuesday, its government said that AIT, the U.S.'s de facto embassy in Taiwan, had agreed to fulfill an order of over 1,000 drones by 2030. While this weapons deal is not yet facing delays, many analysts in Taiwan say it's a possibility, with the U.S. defense industry facing high demand. This U.S. weapons deal includes two kinds of drones. The Altius 600MV, which is designed to destroy vehicles and scout ahead for enemy troops. And the Anti-Personnel Switchblade 300, a weapon small enough to fit in a backpack, yet still packs a punch. The U.S. sees these weapons as crucial to Taiwan's defense strategy against China, which threatens Taiwan with invasion to bring it under its control. Taiwan's military thanked the U.S. for agreeing to expedite the sale of these drones. But procuring drones from the U.S. is only part of Taiwan's plans for deterrence. It also has accelerated domestic production of its own military drones. It's all part of the country's asymmetric defense strategy, focused on smaller, mobile and more affordable weapons. Some U.S. military planners have even suggested turning the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and China into a quote, hellscape, deterring China from coming close to the country. This idea of essentially flooding the Taiwan Straits with all kinds of drones, not just aerial drones, but also uncrewed surface vessels, underwater drones, that having large numbers of those things is a way to really generate mass in a cheap way and create a lot of challenges for China. Taiwan is already on track to acquire more than 6,000 military drones by the end of 2024. And while it will have to wait until 2030 to bolster its arsenal with models from the U.S., its investment in its domestic capabilities means if all goes to plan, it will eventually be able to provide entirely for itself. John Suu and Jaime Okan, for Taiwan Plus.