Taiwan projects its drone industry will expand massively to manufacture 100,000 units per month by 2030 and export half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on May 21, Taipei Times reports.
The move highlights Taiwan's push to build a reliable, democratic hardware supply chain in Asia. This rapid capacity scaling aims to offer global buyers a secure alternative to Chinese tech amidst rising regional tensions.
Current assembly capabilities stand at 15,000 units monthly, but local factories can scale up quickly as market demand rises, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey told a press conference in Taipei on May 21.
Taiwanese drone output surged 2.5-fold last year to TWD12.9bn ($408.3mn) under a government investment programme for uncrewed vehicles, Chiou said.
The Executive Yuan approved a TWD44.2bn ($1.40bn) funding blueprint over six years to develop domestic uncrewed aerial hardware, targeting an output value above TWD40bn ($1.27bn) by 2030. If production value doubles to TWD26bn ($822.8mn) this year, the 2030 target could be revised upward, Chiou noted.
The domestic drone ecosystem currently relies on local purchase orders, with commercial-grade military hardware driving the bulk of manufacturing.
Outbound shipments account for just over 20% of total sales, led by the US, Poland and the Czech Republic.
International sales reached $147mn in the first four months of this year. Outbound shipments totalled $93mn last year, Chiou told a Cabinet press briefing on April 30.
Chinese consumer quadcopters hold a dominant price advantage due to massive manufacturing scale. However, the price gap narrows significantly for military-grade commercial systems where reliability, autonomous flight and anti-jamming features matter most, making Taiwan highly competitive, Chiou added.
According to Taipei Times, the XPONENTIAL 2026 uncrewed systems expo in Detroit drew significant interest from firms in the US, Japan, South Korea and Turkey for potential joint ventures, Chiou said.
The convention generated initial business prospects estimated at TWD1.3bn ($41.1mn) across optical modules, thermal imaging systems and flight software architectures.
Taiwan formalised memorandums of understanding with the Michigan Drone Association and the North Dakota Trade Office during the exhibition. These agreements focus on autonomous piloting, urban air mobility and shared testing facilities to help local enterprises access international validation and certification resources, Chiou concluded.
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