Taipei, June 25 (CNA) Taiwan's army is in the process of customizing reconnaissance drones from the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology (NCSIST) to give them combat capabilities when on a mission, a source close to the military said Sunday.
The source said some of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are being equipped with a laser targeting system that will assist the military in accurately locking onto targets and transmitting the coordinates back to a military base.
Others will have ammunition drums installed on the underside of the drone, enabling the UAV to respond to unexpected attacks while on recon missions, the source said.
The drones being retrofit are among 50 rotor-based models ordered from NCSIST for NT$779.98 million (US$25.16 million). Fourteen of them were delivered in 2022, and 36 were delivered in 2023.
The NCSIST-engineered recon-UAV was first unveiled in January 2023 at a military demonstration, during which the army revealed that servicemen only needed two weeks of training to become drone pilots, with refresher courses scheduled every two years.
Before any alterations, the rotor drone is 180 centimeters long, 39 cm wide, and 55.7 cm high, and can reach a maximum speed of 64 kilometers per hour and a maximum altitude of 1,500 meters.
Weighing 25 kilograms, it can withstand Force 6 winds on the Beaufort Wind Scale and has a battery life of 60 minutes.
Bagikan Berita Ini
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