Taiwan's semiconductor industry and the military implications of a potential cross-strait conflict dominated the aerospace and defense track on the second day of the Plug and Play Silicon Valley May Summit, as investors and defense technology executives described a geopolitical environment that is fundamentally reshaping where capital flows and why.

Nvidia's H200 was a major focus after the Trump-Xi meeting, but hopes for sales into China have faded after US President Donald Trump's latest remarks. Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping is firmly committed to developing domestic AI chips, leaving little room for common ground on the issue.

Taiwanese President Ching-te Lai warned that sweeping cuts to drone procurement funding by the Legislative Yuan could weaken the island's defense readiness and undermine stability across the Taiwan Strait, as the government moves to restore funding through new budget proposals and supplemental allocations.

Photonic semiconductors have become indispensable to modern defense — prized for their ultra-high-speed data processing, high capacity, low power consumption, and exceptional reliability. Yet despite their growing strategic importance, South Korea remains almost entirely dependent on foreign suppliers for these critical components. Industry leaders are now sounding the alarm: as global supply chains fracture along geopolitical lines, photonic semiconductors are no longer just industrial goods — they are national security assets, and South Korea's access to them is far from guaranteed.

South Korea's leading defense contractor, LIG Defense & Aerospace, and the state-backed Agency for Defense Development are accelerating efforts to move quantum defense technologies from labs into operational deployment, as industry players argue that military and public-sector demand will be the key catalyst for commercialization before broader private-sector adoption takes hold.

US defense leaders announced plans to place more military personnel and officials in Ukraine to study drone warfare and battlefield networking so lessons can be folded into US planning and budgets. Defense leadership said the effort aims to capture real-world experience under combat conditions and accelerate the adoption of drone, counter-drone and networking capabilities across the force.

Rising global geopolitical tensions are driving up defense budgets worldwide and boosting demand for rugged computers. Getac expects rugged computer shipments to grow by a double-digit percentage in 2026, driven mainly by defense demand. Additionally, demand related to drones has increased significantly and is expected to account for 5-10% of rugged computer revenue over the next 12 months.

Taiwan assembled its largest-ever delegation for the "Taiwan Pavilion" at the Xponential 2026 exhibition co-hosted by the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), which ran from May 11 to 15 in Detroit. The delegation aimed to show the international community Taiwan's commitment and capabilities in building a core hub for the global non-China drone supply chain.

Thunder Tiger Group, a Taiwanese defense and unmanned systems manufacturer, said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with US defense technology company Shield AI to integrate the American firm's Hivemind autonomous software into Thunder Tiger's unmanned platforms, beginning with its Sea Shark unmanned surface vessel.

In April 2024, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) executed one of the most significant overhauls of its military architecture in decades. The former Strategic Support Force was disbanded and reorganized into three distinct branches: the Military Aerospace Force, the Cyberspace Force, and the Information Support Force. Together with the existing Joint Logistics Support Force, these constitute a new four-branch support structure — one designed not merely to support terrestrial warfare, but to dominate the space domain itself.

Taiwan's legislature recently passed the final version of a special defense budget totaling NT$780 billion (approx. US$24.75 billion), but drone-related funding was not approved. The decision has drawn attention from Taiwan's domestic drone industry, with groups including the Taiwan Defense Industry Development Association (TW-DIDA) and Taiwan National Drone Industry Association (TNDIA) issuing statements calling for continued efforts to strengthen Taiwan's democratic supply chain.

Dayuan Optoelectronics' consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2026 reached NT$443 million (US$14.11 million), a 42.7% increase year on year, driven by North American broadband infrastructure demand and defense project deliveries. The company said this momentum is expected to strengthen from the third quarter of 2026 as BEAD-funded broadband spending accelerates and additional defense contracts move into execution.

The Pentagon has deployed more than 100,000 AI agents through its GenAI.mil platform, marking a broader shift toward algorithm-driven warfare and expanding the US military's push into AI-powered combat operations.

A European delegation's closed-door talks with Taiwanese industry on counter-drone systems highlight accelerating global security implications as drone warfare evolves rapidly, informed by combat lessons from Ukraine and the Middle East; increased drone proliferation is driving urgent demand for multinational cooperation in technology, strategy, and logistics globally.

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Ghost Robotics, a leading US maker of robotic dogs, has confirmed collaboration with Taiwanese manufacturers to eliminate reliance on the red supply chain. Beyond adoption by the US Department of Defense, Ghost Robotics is targeting Taiwan's military needs for unmanned capabilities. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) recently announced that Taiwan's armed forces have comprehensive plans for unmanned vehicles across land, sea, and air domains. This includes introducing quadruped robotic dogs designed for deep-area and urban combat missions such as reconnaissance, enemy elimination, and logistics support.

Taiwan's military-industrial sector, led by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST), recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to accelerate the development of unmanned technology.

Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) is fast-tracking its transition from a supporting aerospace contractor into a full-fledged drone system provider, aiming to capture growing opportunities in both domestic defense programs and the global unmanned vehicle market.

Benefiting from strong AI high-frequency, high-speed transmission and communications infrastructure demand, TXC reported robust AI optical communication orders in the first quarter of 2026, driving its highest-ever quarterly revenue. The company's March 2026 revenue reached NT$1.1 billion (approx. US$35.3 million), up 2.7% year-over-year; cumulative revenue for the first three months of 2026 hit NT$3.3 billion, a 5.5% annual increase and a record for this period.

"The drone is not the weapon. The infrastructure to build it is." This statement, made by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on March 31, 2026, encapsulates the direction of recent US policy reforms as America strives to establish a large-scale, low-cost, and fast-iterating drone industry similar to Ukraine's. The US aims to simultaneously develop military and commercial markets while eliminating reliance on Chinese supply chains and catching up with China's small- and medium-sized drone manufacturing capabilities.

Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) is facing short-term operational pressure, with supply chain delays hitting its Brave Eagle advanced trainer jet program and setbacks pertaining to US preferential procurement policies. While deliveries were delayed in 2024 and 2025, AIDC has been actively offsetting these setbacks by expanding military aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services alongside its civilian aviation business. The company currently holds NT$22 billion (US$699 million) in confirmed orders spanning defense, civil aviation, and technology services, with senior management projecting total contracts to exceed NT$100 billion (US$3.18 billion) over the next five years.

Taiwan's manufacturers are no longer content with making sportswear and bicycle parts. Faced with margin pressure and slowing demand in traditional end markets, a growing number of the island's textile and composite materials makers are repositioning themselves as suppliers to the aerospace, defense, and drone industries — sectors that demand premium materials, carry long contract cycles, and are largely insulated from the price wars that have squeezed conventional manufacturing. Early movers are already showing results.

The US National Security Agency (NSA) is using Anthropic's advanced AI model, Mythos Preview, even after the Department of Defense (DoD) formally designated the company a "supply chain risk," highlighting a growing tension between national security policy and operational cybersecurity needs.

Following up on the previous article, this piece focuses on Texas, where the state has long offered attractive incentives to lure high-tech industries. Now, Texas is extending its reach to defense sectors, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and counter-UAS (C-UAS) autonomous systems.