Taiwan and the American company will produce a underwater drone and a maneuvering shell together

The Taiwanese National Institute of Science and Technology Chung-Shan (NCSISIST) signed a contract with the American company Anduril on Thursday for joint production of an unmanned submarine-AFP agency informed on Thursday. This is the first Taiwan agreement of this type with a foreign company.

Earlier this year, the parties concluded an agreement on the common production of cheap, autonomous maneuvering Barracuda-500 missile.

According to Taiwan News, the autonomous Dive-LD underwater vehicle is intended for long-term deep-sea missions, it can operate at a depth of up to 6,000. meters for a maximum of 10 days and can be adapted to various underwater missions.

These contracts are part of the Taipei strategy, aimed at strengthening domestic arms production in the face of a constant threat from China, which recognize a democratic island as part of their territory and do not exclude the takeover of power over it using force. Taiwan is also under the pressure of the United States to increase expenses for their own defense.

-Our goal is to be able to produce every weapon we need to defend during the war, even in locking conditions-said NCSIST president Li Shih-Chiang during an exhibition of aviation and defensive technologies in Taipei.

NCSist is the main Taiwan research and development unit, subject to the Ministry of National Defense, which is responsible for the development and production of advanced defense technologies.

The Anduril representative in Taiwan, Alex Chang emphasized that the assumption of cooperation is to achieve “mass production” and ensuring sustainable local production.

In the case of the Barracuda-500 missile, NCSist predicts the construction of a supply chain in Taiwan within 18 months, using 100 % Taiwanese components.

Taiwan has been increasing expenses for military equipment and weapons for a decade, having its own defense industry. However, the island still largely involves buying an American weapon, which each time encounters Beijing's nervous reaction and sanctions.

The government of President Lai Ching-Te has announced plans to increase the defensive budget to over 3 percent. GDP in 2026, with a target increase of up to 5 percent GDP until 2030

Krzysztof Pawliszak (PAP)

KRP/ MAL/