TAIPEI (TVBS News) - From military reconnaissance to agricultural exploration, the technicians from the national-level UAV production and assembly line do their best to customize the drones and UAVs according to specifications from the Ministry of National Defense.
At present, most of the government's UAV projects are tested and developed there.
"The hardware we see here is the same as the hardware used for our aircraft. Technology for electronics and semiconductors is rapidly progressing, so many things are therefore quickly eliminated. We can do a test here after the parts are replaced," Chen Yu-ting, an UAV R&D engineer, told TVBS News.
After all the data verification is completed, implementation is the next step, Chen explained. Most of the components of our military drones must be manufactured in Taiwan. And not just drones, even the lining of bulletproof helmets and in-plant equipment can be directly pressed and synthesized here.
Tan Shih-hong, project manager of a UAV company, pointed out that there are three main types of composite materials used in aviation.
"The first is the so-called carbon fiber, the second is glass fiber, and the third is Kevlar. The main purpose, when a drone is in the air, is so that it can handle more situations, be lighter and stay in the air for longer," he noted.
Military resources between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are disparate, however. With the smaller Taiwan market, drones cannot be mass-produced, and they still have to be assembled manually by military manufacturers and academics.
They also have to work closely to maximize the effectiveness of practical and scientific research.
Scholars suggest that the Ministry of Defense takes the lead in cultivating and training more talent for the defense industry, as staff and knowledge will continue to be even more in demand in the future.