When Palmer Luckey, Anduril’s co-founder, spoke at National Taiwan University in August 2025, the lecture was organised by Taiwan AI Academy.
The following month, Shield AI opened an office in Taiwan. Its supply-chain director, who had previously worked with SpaceX’s Starlink, brought eight team members to Taipei for the September 2025 aerospace exhibition as the company began seeking Taiwanese components for its V-BAT drone.
The effort has since moved from a small foothold to a larger share of the aircraft’s hardware. Shield AI increased Taiwanese sourcing for the V-BAT from under 1% in 2024 to 16% as of 2026, and is aiming for 25%.
Anduril has added 15 Taiwanese suppliers in the previous 15 months and increased its direct purchasing in Taiwan 15-fold. Alexander Chang, its managing director for East Asia, is leading the company’s expansion of supplier relationships and component sourcing.
The company buys motors, printed circuit boards, precision machined parts and injection-molded plastic components from Taiwan. Its drone contracts with Taipei have passed $1 billion.
At least 13 agreements between US defence firms and Taiwanese hardware companies have been signed since September 2025.
The push has unfolded while Washington and Beijing have imposed fresh restrictions on defence companies. In the first half of 2026, delegations from the United States, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Germany visited Taiwan’s drone sector in search of component suppliers and partnerships.
On June 8, 2026, the Department of Defense expanded its 1260H list of designated Chinese military companies to 188 entities, barring the department from contracting directly with listed companies.
China’s Ministry of Commerce then put ten American defence and drone companies, including Red Cat Holdings, Teal Drones and IMSAR, under export controls on June 22, 2026, preventing the supply of dual-use items.
Also on June 22, 2026, China’s Finance Ministry barred 46 American companies, including subsidiaries of Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, General Atomics and General Dynamics, from Chinese government procurement.
In early July 2026, the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taichung city government held a forum on business opportunities in drones and unmanned vehicles.
That month, Taiwan’s Coast Guard competitively selected Shield AI’s V-BAT programme. Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation, known as AIDC, was assigned responsibility for local logistics, maintenance and training.
Taiwan’s legislature approved roughly $7 billion in drone procurement over six years in August 2026.
Shield AI delivered its first V-BAT to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration in October 2026. A further 12 V-BAT aircraft are due to the Coast Guard in the coming months.
At an official ceremony at the Port of Taipei on October 7, Taiwan Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-Ling and National Security Council Secretary General Joseph Wu received a presentation of the aircraft.
Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s co-founder and president, said the V-BAT’s radar allows it to operate around the Taiwan Strait even in cloud cover.
Other US companies are seeking a role in Taiwan’s drone production. AEVEX Aerospace showcased its Vandal and Onyx drones, developed with the Taiwanese drone manufacturer Coretronic Intelligent Robotics, or CIRC, on a Friday in October 2026.
The Vandal has an operational range of 486km, endurance of more than 3.5 hours and a payload capacity of 4.5kg. The Onyx has a range of 270km, endurance of more than 2.8 hours and a payload capacity of 13.6kg.
Wu Hsiu-hui, CIRC’s president, described AEVEX and CIRC as technology-transfer partners combining US technology with Taiwan’s manufacturing capabilities to develop autonomous systems for export. She said AEVEX was interested in CIRC’s optical payload designs, which the company develops and manufactures in-house.
AEVEX has said it plans to expand operations in Taiwan. CIRC has delivered 3,000 drones to the government in one year, and its facility in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township is planned to produce 4,000 drones monthly.
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