U.S. defense technology company Auterion displays its drone using control software at a drone exhibition
More than three years have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine, and drones have transformed the face of warfare. On Tuesday (17th), the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, a research and development arm of Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, reached a partnership agreement with the US defense technology company Auterion. The agreement will use combat-tested drone software from Ukraine to strengthen Taiwan's defense capabilities against Chinese military threats.
Driven by the United States, Taiwan is striving to enhance its "asymmetric warfare" capabilities, employing highly mobile, low-cost, yet precise strike weapons systems, such as drones and vehicle-mounted missiles. Reuters reported that since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Taiwan has been studying how Ukraine can utilize drones for naval and air deployment to effectively offset Russia's numerical advantage on the battlefield. Ukrainian drones are using Auterion's software to perform combat missions.
Earlier at a symposium in Taipei, Yurii Poita, director of the Asia-Pacific Department of the Ukrainian Center for Military Transformation and Disarmament Research, said that after three years of war in Ukraine, 80% of casualties on the battlefield from 2024 to 2025 involved drones. In addition to their powerful lethality, drones also have anti-electronic interference capabilities. Currently, Russia is mass-producing more than 100 Shahed drones every day to attack Ukraine's expensive missile-based air defense system.
