Taiwan Partners with Auterion to Build Drone Defense Hub

• Taiwan targets 180,000 drones annually by 2028 to scale defense capabilities.
• Auterion's battle-tested drone software and swarming tech to be integrated.
• Taiwan leverages semiconductor strength to secure critical supply chains.

Taiwan has signed a multi-year agreement with US defense tech firm Auterion to integrate its autonomous vehicle software and swarming technology into Taiwan’s military drones.

The collaboration, which includes Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, aims to rapidly boost Taiwan’s defense capabilities amid escalating tensions with China. Taiwan plans to produce 180,000 drones annually by 2028, positioning itself as a reliable alternative in the global drone market increasingly distancing itself from Chinese components.

This strategic partnership is driven by Taiwan’s $1.35 billion investment (2024-2028) to build a drone sector free from Chinese supply chains, leveraging its strong semiconductor industry to manufacture critical components like flight control chips and sensors. The move comes in response to China’s dominance in the drone market—controlling about 90% of the global commercial drone sector—and Beijing’s recent restrictions on drone parts sales to the US and Europe, which exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains.

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Auterion, whose drone software has been battle-tested in Ukraine, will co-develop technologies with Taiwan and assist in building local manufacturing capacities. The autonomous and swarming capabilities provided by Auterion are crucial to Taiwan’s asymmetric defense strategy, enabling distributed drone operations to counter China’s overwhelming military advantage.

Taiwan’s drone expansion also represents a significant economic opportunity, as the global drone market is expected to soar to $60-85 billion by 2030, with rising demand for trusted non-Chinese systems, particularly in military applications.