Taiwan has unveiled a prototype cruise missile, developed jointly with a US arms maker and set to be manufactured on the island.
The government-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), Taiwan’s top arms manufacturer, showcased the “low-cost autonomous cruise missile” it developed together with Anduril Industries, a relative newcomer to the ranks of American defence contractors, ahead of the island’s largest defence expo.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te recently announced that Taiwan will raise defence spending to 5% of its GDP before 2030.
Adapted from Anduril’s Barracuda-500, an autonomous, low-cost loitering ammunition launched from aircraft that is undergoing tests by the US military, the new land-mobile missile can be used against targets at sea or on land.
However, NCSIST did not give a range for the missile.
Taiwan aims to roll out the production line of the missile in the next year and a half, limiting the cost per missile at approximately $216,000, NCSIST President Li Shih-chiang disclosed.
“The entire supply chain of the missile will be in Taiwan. That is the overall direction of all future cooperation,” Li said.
The NCSIST also displayed a prototype of an underwater drone and an underwater autonomous mobile mine that it aims to jointly develop and produce with Anduril.
CNN