Taiwanese firm Jiin Ming Industry unveiled its self-developed JMG flight remote controller — Raven — at the Japan Drone 2026 exhibition, marking the first time the company has showcased an in-house flight remote controller at an international trade show. The debut highlights its technological progress in drone control systems.

Anduril Industries and Taiwan's Metal Industries Research and Development Center signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen collaboration on unmanned aerial vehicle key technologies, executives announced during a recent visit that included a stop at Computex 2026. The agreement targets AI autonomous systems, drone manufacturing, supply-chain localization, and the construction of non-red supply chains to boost Taiwan's international cooperation and global competitiveness in the drone sector.

Taiwan's state-owned defense research body, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST), has unveiled three military robot dog variants developed on a platform from US firm Ghost Robotics, highlighting its ability to integrate mission payload systems. The showcase underscores Taiwan-US technology cooperation and NCSIST's push to build a non-red supply chain.

As Europe and the US fall short of expectations for the automotive electrical/electronic architecture (E/EA) transition, traditional tier-1 suppliers are accelerating diversification efforts to offset slowing automotive growth. Among them, France-based Valeo, one of the world's top-15 automotive parts suppliers, is leveraging its automotive expertise to expand into faster-growing sectors including AI data center infrastructure, defense, robotics and small-mobility solutions.

A defense industry forum in Taiwan signaled growing interest among US military tech companies in Taiwan's supply chain, particularly as a new era of warfare defined by AI and unmanned systems takes shape. Speakers at the event noted a need to shift from governments relying solely on traditional weapons procurement to supply chain integration between companies.

The Trump administration is in talks to provide funding to several US drone companies, in a move that would mark a stronger federal push to expand domestic drone manufacturing and reduce the cost of battlefield systems that have become central to modern warfare.

Former US Pacific Army commander Charles Flynn led a defense and aerospace industry delegation to Taiwan and attended the 2026 Taiwan-US Defense Industry Forum organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) on May 28. Relying heavily on US arms sales, Taiwan is stepping up its use of AI and unmanned systems to strengthen defense resilience in response to shifting Chinese military tactics.

Taiwanese drone manufacturer Thunder Tiger, the first company in Asia to obtain the US Department of Defense's (DoD) Blue UAS cybersecurity certification, has passed the first phase of evaluation for the US Drone Dominance Program (DDP) and has moved into the second phase.

The US Department of Defense announced a rapid expansion of artificial intelligence use alongside an accelerated drone procurement push, reporting that AI user numbers rose from about 80,000 to about 1.5 million in one year and launching a program to buy 200,000 small lethal drones by 2027, with a budget cap of US$1.1 billion. The announcements were made at SOF Week 2026 in Tampa, Florida. They detailed the department's intent to embed AI across enterprise, intelligence, and operational layers to speed decisions and improve battlefield lethality.

Airbus told airline customers that deliveries of A350 and A320neo family aircraft will be slower than planned over the next few years, with average delays of about one to two months and some impacts lasting through 2030, according to Aviation Week. Executives said supply chain and capacity constraints identified during recent plant transfers and supplier quality issues had not been fully resolved, creating knock-on effects for final assembly schedules.

At the Plug and Play May Summit in Sunnyvale, a Taiwanese startup called Aegiverse quietly made its case to US defense and aerospace investors — not with flashy slides or moonshot promises, but with a 16-year track record and a business model built to last.

The Ukraine War and ongoing tensions in the Middle East have exposed a technological revolution reshaping modern warfare: the rise of cheap drones. These developments, along with AI-powered decision-making and the growing importance of resilient supply chains, are increasingly occupying the minds of military strategists — from great powers to smaller upstarts.

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.