Ministry to build drones at new campus
The Ministry of National Defense plans to use a proposed aerospace and uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry campus to produce military drones, a defense official said yesterday.
The campus in Chiayi County’s Minsyong Township (民雄) would receive nearly NT$6.9 billion (US$216.12 million) to build factories, hangars and UAV testing facilities, the ministry’s budget proposal submitted last month to the Legislative Yuan showed.
The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the ministry’s research and development arm, is to oversee the project, it said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the defense official said the information disclosed by the report suggested that the campus would serve as the production center for drones, the military value of which has rapidly increased in the past few years.
The Teng Yun 2 (騰雲二型, “Cloud Rider 2”) and the Albatross II (銳鳶二型), the nation’s domestically developed medium-altitude long-endurance military drones, have passed operational tests, the official said, adding that the Teng Yun 2 last month participated in a live-fire precision-guided munition exercise.