Taiwan stages first joint combat drill with attack drones — SkimNews
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- Taiwan's military carried out its first joint combat exercise incorporating multiple types of attack drones during a three-day drill in the far south of the island, according to President Lai Ching-te.
- Lai said the coordinated use of unmanned vehicles with conventional weapons reflects adaptation to modern warfare, calling precision firing exercises crucial for testing weapon effectiveness.
- The drills also featured launches of domestically developed Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles and Lockheed Martin-made HIMARS rockets, though the presidential office did not disclose what types of drones were used and released only images of the missiles.
- Defence Minister Wellington Koo and Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council which runs the Coast Guard, accompanied Lai — reflecting the government's effort to better integrate the Coast Guard into overall defense planning.
- During Taiwan's main annual war games in August, a Coast Guard ship was fitted with anti-ship missiles as a first step in that auxiliary-role integration.
- Lai has made defense modernization central to his agenda given the rising threat from China, including developing drones and spending more on defense — something US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressed allies to do.
Why it matters: Taiwan is folding cheap-drone tactics — proven in Ukraine and the Middle East — into formal exercises while formally pulling the Coast Guard into wartime roles, showing Lai's government is accelerating defense modernization on two fronts simultaneously. The drill lands as Trump keeps pressuring allies to spend more, giving Taipei a tangible deliverable to point to.
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