TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A “drone alliance” of more than 50 companies held its inaugural meeting on Monday (Sept. 23), seeking to bolster international cooperation.
The alliance, established by Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), includes MITAC, Thunder Tiger, Coretronic Intelligent Robotics Corp., and Geosat Aerospace, CNA reported. The alliance’s founder and AIDC Chairman, Hu Kai-hung (胡開宏), said that the goal is to assess the capabilities of member companies and secure international business matchmaking opportunities.
Hu stressed that assessing capabilities does not mean probing companies' trade secrets but rather identifying and complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses. Division of labor is a crucial function of this alliance, and AIDC will play a coordinating role, facilitating discussions among members to leverage core technologies and increase the success rate in securing global business opportunities, he said.
AIDC said while the global drone market is booming, it remains an emerging industry in Taiwan. Companies are involved, but their scale is relatively small, and system integration capabilities are limited.
The company pointed out it has long been engaged in both military and civilian aircraft R&D, and system integration is one of its strengths. It expressed optimism in creating a resilient supply chain and boosting the nation’s drone development.
The company also said it plans to bring alliance members on overseas trips to secure international orders.
The alliance meeting comes as Taiwan and the US seek deeper collaboration in drone production. A delegation of 26 US executives from drone companies arrived in Taipei on Sunday (Sept. 22) to discuss with Taiwanese representatives ways to help US companies find non-Chinese suppliers and manufacturing partners.
Delegation members include officials from the US Department of Commerce and the Department of Defense. Taiwanese drone industry representatives, military officials overseeing weapons procurement and research and development, and researchers and engineers will join the talks.
In 2022, former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) established the Asia UAV AI Innovation Application R&D Center in Chiayi to achieve self-reliance and strengthen its asymmetric defense capabilities in drone development.
