TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) plans to order 3,221 military-grade commercial drones from the private sector in Taiwan in response to a changing strategic environment, reports said Thursday (Oct. 19).

Budget information submitted to the Legislative Yuan revealed that the military was planning to spend NT$5.68 billion (US$175.57 million) on five types of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Liberty Times reported.

Two models, a land surveillance UAV for the Navy and a micro drone, had already passed the necessary tests, the report said. The budget foresaw NT$2.41 billion for 96 Navy surveillance drones and NT$1.28 billion for 1,485 micro drones.

The Army was looking for 72 target drones with a price tag of NT$566,599, while the Navy was interested in acquiring 16 ship-based surveillance UAVs budgeted at NT$424,676. The final item was NT$998,374 for the funding of 1,552 surveillance drones to be used by all three services of the armed forces.

While the 96 land surveillance UAVs for the Navy were budgeted for the period from 2024 to 2028, all the other drones were listed for 2024-2025, according to the report.