Taiwan Signs Deal With US To Purchase 1,000 Attack Drones

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has signed an agreement with the US government to purchase 1,000 attack drones from two American companies, AeroVironment and Anduril Industries, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The report said that Taiwan signed a “letter of offer and acceptance” in September, a step that comes before contracts are signed and the numbers and costs of the arms deal are figured out. The contracts are expected to be signed soon.

In June, the State Department approved a similar deal worth $360 million for about 1,000 attack drones produced by AeroVironment and Anduril. The sale included 291 Altius-600M systems, which are produced by Anduril, and 720 Switchblade drones, produced by AeroVironment.

China responded to the sale by issuing sanctions on some of the weapons makers and executives involved. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian pointed out the sanctions on Tuesday when asked about the new potential sale.

“Taiwan is a province of China and there is no such thing as ‘Taiwan’s ministry of defense.’ China’s firm opposition to the military contact between the US and Taiwan is consistent and clear. The two US companies you mentioned and relevant senior executives in charge are under sanctions by China,” Lin said.

Both the Altius-600M and the Switchblade are kamikaze drones, meaning they crash into their target to explode. Small kamikaze drones have been used extensively in the war in Ukraine, and the US military has big plans for the weapons as part of its preparations for a future war with China.

Adm. Samuel Paparo, the head of US Indo-Pacific Command, said the US is planning to create a “hellscape” of aerial drones, drone boats, and unmanned submarines in the Taiwan Strait if China attacks Taiwan. “I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,” Paparo said. “So that I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.”

Last year, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks outlined a plan to deploy thousands of drones controlled by Artificial Intelligence, known as the “Replicator Initiative.”

“With Replicator, we’re beginning with all-domain, attritable autonomy, or ADA2, to help us overcome the [People’s Republic of China’s] advantage in mass: more ships, more missiles, more forces,” Hicks said at a conference in September 2023. She added that the US plans to deploy the drones “at a scale of multiple thousands, in multiple domains, within the next 18-to-24 months.”

The US is openly preparing for a future direct conflict with China despite the risk of nuclear war. Last month, the US Navy unveiled a plan to be prepared for war by 2027.

Source: Antiwar

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave. View all posts by Dave DeCamp

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