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Taiwan teams up with US start-up on underwater drones to boost island’s defences

Taiwan teams up with US start-up on underwater drones to boost island’s defences
South China Morning Post Monday 17 August 2026, 13:04 UTC By Lawrence Chung 1 min read
Key Points

Taiwan has signed a deal with US defence start-up Vatn Systems to develop autonomous underwater vehicles and strengthen its asymmetric warfare capabilities amid growing military pressure from Beijing. The agreement with the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) – the island’s government-funded top weapons developer – is the latest in a series of moves to expand Taiwan’s unmanned underwater capabilities. Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, NCSIST...

Taiwan has signed a deal with US defence start-up Vatn Systems to develop autonomous underwater vehicles and strengthen its asymmetric warfare capabilities amid growing military pressure from Beijing. The agreement with the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) – the island’s government-funded top weapons developer – is the latest in a series of moves to expand Taiwan’s unmanned underwater capabilities. Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, NCSIST and...
Taiwan (LOCATION) US (LOCATION) Vatn Systems (ORG) Beijing (LOCATION) the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (ORG) NCSIST (ORG)
Originally published by South China Morning Post Read original →

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