Taiwan Mass UAS Procurement

Taiwan's Taiwan Mass UAS Procurement program, led by the Ministry of National Defense (MND), aims to bolster asymmetric warfare capabilities against potential invasion threats by acquiring vast numbers of low-cost, attritable drones for surveillance, reconnaissance, attack, and coastal defense. The initiative emphasizes indigenous production to build a domestic drone ecosystem, drawing inspiration from Ukraine's use of commercial-grade UAVs, and involves a multi-vendor, multi-phase approach across five categories (Types A-E): multi-rotor VTOL (Types A/B), fixed-wing catapult-launched (Types C/D), and VTOL fixed-wing (Type E), with specifications tailored for payloads from 2.5-10 kg, ranges up to 180+ km, and endurance up to 2.5+ hours. Announced in phases, the program targets over 200,000 UAVs under a proposed NT$1.25 trillion ($36-40B) special defense budget, including an initial tender for 48,750 drones (11,270 in 2026, 37,480 in 2027) and broader plans exceeding 100,000-200,000 units incorporating loitering munitions like 1,554 ALTIUS-700M and 478 ALTIUS-600ISR from the U.S., alongside over 1,000 unmanned surface vessels. Key milestones include a 2022 MOEA pilot program selecting nine local firms (e.g., GEOSAT, Taiwan UAV Corp.) for prototypes by mid-2023 and mass production in 2024, with R&D funding in March 2023; tenders published by mid-2025; and ongoing U.S.-Taiwan co-production pushes via defense bills, though procurement faces delays from stalled legislative bills as of late 2025. As of early 2026, awards are pending multi-vendor selections prioritizing local system integrators. Strategically, the program—budgeted around NT$50B for core drone acquisitions—shifts Taiwan toward distributed, high-volume unmanned defenses, treating drones as consumables to saturate coastal areas, complicate Chinese targeting, and enable kill-chains in compressed geography with limited depth. It fosters local industry via NCSIST technology transfers and U.S. collaborations on AI/software, aligning with global attritable systems trends for deterrence.