The US usually sells weapons to Taiwan – with drones, expect the reverse

NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — The United States has been selling advanced weapons to Taiwan for years, with large American contractors churning out more of the higher-end equipment than the island could ever produce alone for its defense against its military rival China.Now Taiwan, an all-purpose manufacturing hub since the 1980s with an emphasis on high-tech hardware, is positioning to sell homegrown drones to the U.S. military so it can avoid the dominant Chinese supply chain, analysts and recent transactions indicate.“Foreign governments value Taiwanese drones mainly because of Taiwan’s strong information and communication technologies foundation and its role as a trusted supply chain partner,” said Lee Yi-ching, an analyst with the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute in Taipei.“From a supply-chain perspective, Western countries have increasingly prioritized reducing their reliance on Chinese drones and Chinese-made components,” Lee said. “Amid concerns over information security, wartime supply chain resilience and national security, the trustworthiness of component sources has become an important factor for Western governments when evaluating drone suppliers.”China-headquartered DJI makes at least 70% of the world’s commercial and civilian-use drones, including for American consumers.On June 4, the de-facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan said the Virginia-based Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International and the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan were working together on drone technology.A day earlier, domestic media had reported that Taiwan’s Metal Industries Research & Development Center signed a memorandum to team up with American defense technology company Anduril.“We recognize that Taiwan’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, electronics, and agile production make it a natural and indispensable partner,” the de-facto embassy’s director, Raymond Greene, said in a June 4 statement.And last year, Taiwanese manufacturer Thunder Tiger’s Ov