Taiwan unveils ‘suicide’ drone at arms expo as Taipei expands military spending

Taiwan unveiled the latest weaponry from its arms industry on Thursday, including a new subsonic jet trainer aircraft and a drone that its designers say can lock on to radar signals and destroy ground stations or missile launchers in a “suicide” attack.

The Jian Hsiang, or Flying Sword, drone was one of 81 items of locally made military equipment to make their debut at the three-day Taipei Aerospace and Defence Technology Exhibition.

Taipei has increased its defence spending in the face of a growing military threat from Beijing and has called on the United States to sell it more arms.

Last month, the US State Department approved the sale of an arms package worth US$2.2 billion that included 108 Abrams tanks and 250 Stinger shoulder-launched missiles to Taiwan. Beijing – which considers the island to be a wayward province to be returned to the mainland’s fold, by force if necessary – has said it will sanction the US companies involved.

Addressing the expo, Brent Christensen, director of the American Institute in Taiwan and the US’ top representative on the self-ruled island, said Washington expected Taipei to continue with defence spending increases.

“These investments by Taiwan are commendable, as is Taiwan’s ongoing commitment to increase the defence budget annually to ensure that its spending is sufficient to provide for its own self-defence needs,” he said. “And we anticipate that these figures will continue to grow commensurate with the threats Taiwan faces.”