China threat looms, Taiwan not taking chances: Teams up with US firm to make missiles, undersea drones

Taiwan will manufacture a missile and an underwater drone in collaboration with a US-based company for the very first time, as China’s belligerent moves expand over the region.

The democratic island faces the constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims it is part of its territory, and is under US pressure to spend more on its own defence.

Earlier this year, Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) joined hands with US defence firm Anduril to make the company’s Barracuda-500, a low-cost, autonomous cruise missile.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the two stakeholders signed another agreement to co-produce Anduril’s underwater drones.

These are Taiwan’s first such agreements with a foreign company, NCSIST president Li Shih-chiang told AFP.

“Our purpose is if in the warfare, even the blockade, we can manufacture every weapon we need to protect ourselves,” Li said on the sidelines of the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition, where the Barracuda is on display.

About the project

NCSIST said it would take 18 months to build the supply chain in Taiwan for the Barracuda-500, which uses 100 per cent Taiwanese components.

A senior Taiwanese lawmaker told AFP last week that the defence ministry will seek up to a record NT$1 trillion ($33 billion) in special funding to upgrade the island’s defences.

The plans include integrating Taiwan’s air defence systems, acquiring from overseas partners more advanced technology to detect small drones, rockets and missiles and ensuring a rapid response to an attack, and increasing the island’s capacity to produce and store ammunition for wartime.

Taiwan ramps up for possible invasion

Taiwan is preparing for a war that its leadership sees as imminent. The country has updated its civil defence handbook that carries instructions for people about what to do when they see an enemy.

As the island nation feels the pressure from China’s belligerent moves, Taipei is preparing its people for potential emergencies. Beijing considers Taiwan as its own territory and has been making strategic military moves to take over its governance.

Lin Fei-fan, Deputy Secretary-General of Taiwan’s National Security Council, who oversaw the updated handbook, said Taipei has taken inspiration from survival guides planned by fellow democracies, including the Czech Republic and France.

With inputs from agencies