Taiwan turns to US drone boats to track rising mainland Chinese sea activity near island
High-speed Devil Ray T24 autonomous vessels to join coastguard fleet in major expansion of island’s maritime reconnaissance tools
Martac described the deal as “one of the most significant international purchases” of US-made uncrewed surface vessels, while James Lee, chief executive of Confucian, Martac’s Taiwanese partner, described it as the coastguard agency’s “first unmanned surface vessel programme”.
The procurement follows a sharp increase in mainland Chinese maritime activity around Taiwan, with coastguard, research and other government vessel sightings reaching record levels in June, July and August, according to Taiwanese defence ministry figures analysed by the South China Morning Post.
