US wants Taiwan to buy more kamikaze drones

The US plans to provide Taiwan with more suicide drones, a sale that would seek to bolster the self-governing island’s defenses against a possible Chinese invasion.

But high costs per unit, concerns about the drones’ range and effectiveness in the Pacific and questions about the US’s ability to produce sufficient advanced explosives to arm the weapons could hinder the sale’s deterrent effect.

The US has approved a potential arms sale to Taiwan involving over a thousand loitering munitions, also known as kamikaze drones, The War Zone reported. The proposed sale includes the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 and Anduril ALTIUS 600M types, both of which have been combat-tested in Ukraine.

The report says the drones could target Chinese landing craft during an amphibious invasion, extending Taiwan’s defensive reach and potentially overwhelming China’s defenses.

The deal, valued at US$60.2 million for Switchblade 300s and $300 million for ALTIUS 600Ms, also encompasses training, support and logistics. The sales are still prospective and formal contracts have yet to be signed, the War Zone report says.

The potential deal highlights the increasing significance of unmanned systems in contemporary warfare, as evidenced by their widespread utilization in Ukraine. Taiwan’s acquisition of the US drones would align with its “porcupine strategy,” which aims to create a formidable asymmetric defense against a numerically superior Chinese military.

The plan comes amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, with both US and Taiwanese authorities cautioning about the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) growing capacity to launch a successful takeover of Taiwan by 2027.

The War Zone states that the drone deal reflects a broader trend of leveraging