Taiwan Develops Multirotor UAVs

The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense Armaments Bureau's (MND AB's) Materiel Production Center (MPC) has announced that it is developing a new family of indigenous surveillance and weaponised multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to address potential tactical requirements by the Republic of China Army (RoCA).

Three new multirotor UAV prototypes - the UAV Forward Observation System, the UAV Patrolling System, and the Multi-Purpose Drone System - under development by the MPC's 202nd and 205th Arsenals, were exhibited at the 2019 Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE).

The UAV Forward Observation System is being trialled by the Taipei-based 202nd Arsenal as an organic airborne surveillance and targeting capability for the next-generation 8×8 Cloud Leopard II M2 Mortar Carrier being evaluated for the RoCA.

The system comprises an expendable, compact tri-rotor UAV, equipped with a high-definition camera suite and a GPS tracker. When launched, the air vehicle will travel to an adversary's last known or suspected location, where it will activate its tracker to generate precise GPS co-ordinates for the mortar's fire-control system (FCS).

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"A vehicle will typically carry several of these UAVs as it will likely be a high-value target for the hostile force," the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, the Kaohsiung-based 205th Arsenal is developing quadrotor UAVs to address several potential RoCA requirements, including counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS), facility protection, and squad-level tactical support.

The UAV Patrolling System, for example, is based on a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) quadrotor UAV and customised to perform autonomous surveillance of a facility's perimeter.

Photo: IHS Markit/Kelvin Wong

Source: Jane's 360