{"id":36292,"date":"2026-08-10T10:34:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T05:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=36292"},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T05:34:35","slug":"taiwans-war-drills-showcased-a-new-strike-drone-class-that-ukraine-used-to-smash-russia-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=36292","title":{"rendered":"Taiwan&#8217;s war drills showcased a new strike drone class that Ukraine used to smash Russia this year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\" data-body-type=\"bodyblocks\">\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 safari:ml-6 list-disc\">\n<div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Taiwan showcased two midsize strike drones above its southwest coast on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 safari:ml-6 list-disc\">\n<div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Their designs and descriptions draw easy comparisons to Ukraine&#8217;s mid-range drones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 safari:ml-6 list-disc\">\n<div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Such drones likely give Taiwan the ability to cheaply hit a Chinese invasion force over the horizon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">ZUOYING, TAIWAN \u2014 Taiwan&#8217;s navy deployed two medium-class strike drones on Saturday for the island&#8217;s biggest annual military exercise, and their designs resemble those of the <a data-ylk=\"slk:loitering munitions;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/ukraine-himars-mid-range-drones-strike-atacms-russia-analysts-2026-6?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoocom&amp;utm_medium=syndication&amp;utm_source=yahoo\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">loitering munitions<\/a> giving Ukraine fresh wins against Russia this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The pair of fixed-wing, propeller-driven drones appeared during a littoral combat drill simulating an attack on Zuoying, Taiwan&#8217;s southwest coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It was the first time these drones were shown at the <a data-ylk=\"slk:Han Kuang exercise;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/war-games-taiwan-military-people-ready-for-possible-china-offensive-2022-8?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoocom&amp;utm_medium=syndication&amp;utm_source=yahoo\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Han Kuang exercise<\/a>, Taiwan&#8217;s annual rehearsals against a Chinese invasion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As the drones loitered for about 30 minutes above the beach, Taiwanese military officials described them to reporters as &#8220;medium-size suicide drones,&#8221; adding they were locally built. The island&#8217;s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology designs and manufactures the vast majority of Taiwan&#8217;s homegrown weapons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The drone used was provided by the Armament Bureau to the navy for testing purpose,&#8221; a spokesperson for Taiwan&#8217;s navy told Business Insider.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">They declined to comment on the drone&#8217;s specifications or whether its design was influenced in any way by the recent wars in Ukraine or the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The one-way drones were not shown attempting to launch an attack, and it&#8217;s unclear whether they represent Taiwan&#8217;s final designs for the aircraft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Ukraine has been using similar fixed-wing drones to attack Russian forces roughly 30 to 300 km behind the front lines this year, mainly <a data-ylk=\"slk:disrupting supply routes;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/ukraine-squeeze-crimea-fuel-cut-mid-range-drones-sevastopol-2026-6?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoocom&amp;utm_medium=syndication&amp;utm_source=yahoo\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">disrupting supply routes<\/a> that the Kremlin has relied on to funnel resources to the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Zuoying, where Taiwan hosts its largest naval base, is about 295 km, or 183 miles, from mainland China.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The desire to employ more medium-range drones fits into things that Taiwan has <a data-ylk=\"slk:learned from Ukraine,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/ukraine-mid-range-drones-war-ready-test-pilot-spring-2026-6?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoocom&amp;utm_medium=syndication&amp;utm_source=yahoo\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">learned from Ukraine,<\/a>&#8221; said Bryce Barros, a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei think-tank backed by the Taiwanese government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mid-range drones would fill a gap in Taiwan&#8217;s littoral defense with a cheaper way to strike Chinese forces or weapons from &#8220;over-the-horizon&#8221; as they approach the island, Barros said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Unlike Ukraine&#8217;s plains and forests, Taiwan&#8217;s littoral defense covers a strait notorious for bad winds and volatile sea states, suggesting that Taipei may want its own drone built to withstand poor weather.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Instead of air defense systems or supply trucks like in Ukraine or Crimea, Taiwan&#8217;s mid-range drones would likely target slow-moving vessels transporting troops or weapons, Barros added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;A range of 40 kilometers to 60 kilometers would be very useful for a whole host of different platforms, anything to make it more difficult for the PLA to start getting into Taiwan&#8217;s territorial waters,&#8221; he said, referring to the People&#8217;s Liberation Army.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Taiwan&#8217;s government has said that it plans to produce 100,000 drones a month by 2030. In June, its national defense ministry proposed a <a data-ylk=\"slk:$6.6 billion budget;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2026\/06\/24\/taiwan-budget-calls-for-6-6b-for-attack-drones-unmanned-surface-vessels\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">$6.6 billion budget<\/a> to procure over 210,000 domestically produced attack, reconnaissance, and sea drones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It&#8217;s all part of the island&#8217;s emerging &#8220;hellscape&#8221; strategy, which aims to hamper Chinese forces attempting to cross the Taiwan Strait by flooding it with thousands of aerial, surface, and underwater drones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The littoral drills on Saturday, attended by <a data-ylk=\"slk:Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/taiwan-election-president-william-lai-ching-te-xi-china-hates-2024-1?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoocom&amp;utm_medium=syndication&amp;utm_source=yahoo\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te<\/a>, also featured naval special forces deploying in the island&#8217;s homegrown M109 Skyship rigid-hull inflatable boats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Taiwan&#8217;s navy and coast guard launched rapid sorties with four of its older, 170-ton Kuang Hua-6 missile boats and at least one Anping-class patrol vessel \u2014 a newer, 600-ton catamaran that can be fitted with anti-ship missiles during wartime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Han Kuang exercise, which lasts 10 days and 9 nights this year, features island-wide drills to simulate how Taiwanese forces and civilian institutions would respond to <a data-ylk=\"slk:Chinese gray-zone tactics;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/chinese-invasion-taiwan-seizing-ports-2024-12?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoocom&amp;utm_medium=syndication&amp;utm_source=yahoo\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Chinese gray-zone tactics<\/a> and an invasion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If you enjoyed this story, be sure to follow <a data-ylk=\"slk:Business Insider;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/profiles.yahoo.com\/brands\/business-insider\/\">Business Insider<\/a> on Yahoo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taiwan showcased two midsize strike drones above its southwest coast on Saturday. Their designs and descriptions draw easy comparisons to Ukraine&#8217;s mid-range drones. Such drones likely give Taiwan the ability to cheaply hit a Chinese invasion force over the horizon. ZUOYING, TAIWAN \u2014 Taiwan&#8217;s navy deployed two medium-class strike drones on Saturday for the island&#8217;s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/b134853b18d20d1254f5c366bfc3d7748e959eb0e37bd1d7fb7e9ecbc8ab80c2\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w1200%3Bquality_80%3Bformat_jpg\/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fbusiness_insider_consolidated_articles_886%2F61642b48206894d59905153cef4ec4a9","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}