Taiwan’s Army accepted the initial delivery of Altius‑600M loitering munition systems from the United States. On August 5, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo‑cheng met in Taipei with Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, the drone manufacturer. The meeting included Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Yang Chi‑jung, Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Chen Chien‑yi, and senior Ministry of Defense officials.
During the meeting, commemorative gifts were exchanged and the delivery reviewed. Minister Chiu thanked both the U.S. team and his domestic staff for the project’s rapid execution. He emphasized that the project began in 2024 and delivered operational systems to the Army within a year. He added that the newly fielded systems provide immediate combat capability and significantly strengthen Taiwan’s ground-based strike and defense capacities. Later that day, Palmer Luckey gave a lecture at the Ministry auditorium on “Taiwan’s military technology innovation,” attended by military personnel and defense officials.
The Altius‑600M is a one-way (kamikaze) loitering munition derived from the base Altius‑600 UAV developed by Area‑I and now produced by Anduril Industries. It is modular and multi-mission capable, built with a 12‑kilogram airframe carrying payloads between three and seven pounds (approx. 1.4–3.2 kg). It can loiter for up to four hours and reach targets up to 400 km from launch. Launch platforms include ground vehicles, helicopters (e.g. UH‑60 Black Hawk), transport aircraft (C‑130), fixed-wing UAVs like the XQ‑58A Valkyrie, and naval vessels. With compatibility for pneumatic launch systems and Common Launch Tubes, deployment is highly flexible. It can carry ISR payloads, electronic warfare modules, RF decoys, communications relay packages, and kinetic warheads. The 600M variant is expendable—it detonates on impact, unlike the reusable base platform.
The autonomy is powered by Anduril’s Lattice control system, enabling a single operator to manage multiple drones simultaneously. These drones can communicate and coordinate as a networked swarm. In operational use, one drone may scout threats while another carries out the strike. The system can also be programmed to loiter until detecting a specific radar emission or visual target; upon detection, operators receive alerts and can either direct loitering or approve a strike. According to Palmer Luckey, the platform allows remote operators or pilots to remain miles from hostile zones while still directing precision engagement. The Altius series has been tested by the U.S. Army under the Air-Launched Effects (ALE) program, where in one demonstration 28 Altius‑600 drones were launched in four successive waves—all controlled by a single operator performing target acquisition and simulated strikes.
The Ministry of National Defense has stated that the Altius‑600M delivery fits into a broader strategy of integrating asymmetric and resilient capabilities into Taiwan’s defense architecture. Minister Chiu highlighted that the Ministry’s Defense Innovation Office (DIO) is tasked with evaluating how emerging technologies like loitering munitions can be operationalized. He noted that the introduction of the 600M demonstrates institutional willingness to accelerate deployment of systems tailored to Taiwan’s operational requirements. He reiterated the importance of incorporating such systems into force development plans and encouraged personnel to shift from legacy mindsets to new operational models based on distributed lethality and autonomous platforms. The Altius‑600M systems are expected to enhance Taiwan’s ability to operate in contested environments by extending strike reach and enabling distributed coordination without the near-continuous presence of manned systems on the front line.
Taiwan’s wider drone acquisition strategy includes foreign procurement as well as domestic development. Alongside the Altius‑600M, Taiwan also received 685 Switchblade 300 drones under a U.S.-approved $360 million defense package in 2024. Together, these systems bring Taiwan’s attack drone inventory to nearly 1,000 units. They are intended to offer short-term, attritable strike capability in high-intensity conflicts. U.S. defense planners describe these drones as part of a “drone‑based denial layer” strategy across the Taiwan Strait—what Indo-Pacific Command leaders call a “hellscape.” The plan envisages deploying large numbers of unmanned systems to delay or disrupt amphibious or airborne invasions long enough for allied forces to mobilize. These drones, together with domestic systems, are to form a multi-layered “kill web” that includes kamikaze UAVs, autonomous surface vessels, and electronic warfare nodes. Officials warn that insufficient procurement would reduce deterrent effect and enable adversaries to quickly overrun Taiwanese defenses.
At the same time, Taiwan is aggressively expanding its domestic UAV manufacturing sector. The Chien Hsiang anti-radiation loitering munition, developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), is now in serial production. With a range of up to 1,000 km and top speed of 185 km/h, it is designed to strike radar emitters. Taiwan aims to produce about 48 units annually, reaching a total of around 150 by 2025. Additionally, FPV kamikaze drones like Overkill, co-developed by Thunder Tiger and NCSIST using Auterion’s AI-powered strike software, completed testing in mid‑2025—Thunder Tiger has licensed software for up to 25,000 units. Target export markets include Southeast Asia, where non‑Chinese origin components are preferred. However, Taiwan’s industry produced only some 8,000–10,000 drones in the 12 months up to April 2025—well below the national target of 180,000 units annually by 2028. Major challenges include high unit costs, limited domestic procurement, and few foreign orders.
In July 2025, Taiwan’s Defense Armaments Bureau issued a tender for 48,750 domestically built drones to be delivered in 2026–2027, with a budget of NT$ 50 billion (around US$ 1.4 billion)—more than fourteen times the amount ordered in 2023. The tender covers five drone types: VTOL multirotors with payloads over 2.5 kg, fixed-wing UAVs with endurance over two hours, and single-use attack drones for land and sea missions. The aim is to rapidly scale Taiwan’s unmanned fleet for both defensive and offensive use. However, structural challenges remain: Taiwan does not yet produce drone-specific semiconductors and remains dependent on general-purpose chips from foreign suppliers, which are costlier than Chinese alternatives. The industry also suffers from procurement uncertainty, and none of its manufacturers is on the U.S. Department of Defense’s approved Blue List. Analysts warn that without scaling production and securing export channels, Taiwan risks remaining reliant on external sources in a conflict and falling short of drone self-sufficiency.
