TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. President Tsao Chin-ping (曹進平) said the company has secured over NT$20 billion (US $660 million) in orders this year, including military aircraft maintenance, civil aviation component production, and energy-saving devices, CNA reported.
At Thursday’s investor conference, AIDC reported November revenue of NT$3.16 billion, down 18.6% year-on-year. Revenue for the first 11 months of this year totaled NT$30.87 billion, a 12.15% decline, mainly due to military aircraft delivery delays. The company expects operations to improve next year as new orders increase and component supply stabilizes.
The government has set aside NT$647 billion for next year’s defense budget, equal to 3.32% of GDP, to fund military aircraft, drones, and missile purchases. President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has also proposed an additional military budget of NT$1.25 trillion from next year through 2033 to bolster air defense and strike capabilities, with both measures awaiting Legislative Yuan approval.
Tsao said that AIDC plans to seize these government procurement opportunities by boosting R&D on unmanned vehicles and anti-drone systems. The firm has completed an anti-drone system with radar detection and jamming capabilities and is developing interception functions, with plans to expand the system to overseas markets.
In November, AIDC completed flight tests of prototype drones equipped with Vantor’s vision-based software suite, Raptor Guide. The collaboration allows drones to navigate precisely in GPS-denied environments, using real-time image comparisons with 3D maps to achieve positioning accuracy and improve UAVs’ resistance to interference.
AIDC is in talks with US UAV company Shield AI to locally produce certain models under the US firm’s authorization. Since September, the two companies have agreed to allow AIDC to repair some of Shield AI’s models in Taiwan.
The company attributed the delayed delivery of its T-BE5A Brave Eagle, used for training Air Force pilots, to an unstable component supply chain, including engines, control systems, and fuel tanks. Penalties from the delivery delays caused part of the company’s losses. To address this, the company has coordinated with suppliers and launched R&D projects in collaboration with the National Chung Shan Institute of Science & Technology.
Tsao noted that global air passenger traffic has grown 6.6% year-on-year, with Boeing and Airbus projected to need 43,000 new aircraft over the next 20 years. The company plans to compete for these orders while upgrading its forging and casting capabilities to increase production next year.
Tsao added that AIDC’s “Power Island” energy-saving system, capable of off-peak charging and peak discharging, offers a solution for companies to manage power outages. Construction of the demonstration site in Hualien began on Nov. 27, with operations expected in the third quarter of next year.
