TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Anduril founder Palmer Luckey said he is proud to be sanctioned by China over US arms sales to Taiwan, adding that his company’s weapons are meant to turn the country into a “prickly porcupine” that deters Chinese aggression.
The US government announced eight arms sales packages totaling more than NT$351.62 billion (US$11.1 billion) in December, per CNA. China’s foreign ministry subsequently announced countermeasures under its Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law against 20 US defense-related companies and 10 senior executives for “arming Taiwan,” with Luckey among those named.
In an interview with Fox Business on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday, Luckey said the sanctions were “an award I’m very, very proud to win.” He noted that while Anduril has faced sanctions for years, he now takes pride in being sanctioned, including having any assets in China confiscated and being barred from entry.
Luckey said China has accused him of selling products to what it calls “the separatist terrorist group that currently controls the island of Taiwan.” He replied he is “a big fan of the separatists.”
Asked about Anduril’s cooperation with Taiwan, Luckey said he recently visited the country to oversee a major weapons delivery. “We're regularly helping them modernize their military, sending over tools that they need,” he said.
The Ministry of National Defense has procured Anduril-made Altius-600M loitering munitions, with the first batch delivered to the Army in August last year to bolster ground defense and precision strike capabilities. Luckey traveled to Taiwan for the delivery and met with Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄).
Luckey said Washington has realized that, in the face of China’s aggressive actions toward Taiwan and other countries, “We do not have time for business as usual.” He said efforts must be expedited to turn Taiwan into "a prickly porcupine that nobody wants to step on, nobody wants to eat.”
He said Anduril’s systems sold to Taiwan mainly include air defense and maritime systems, as well as a range of capabilities designed to destroy invading ships, aircraft, and ground forces. “We’re doing a whole bunch of stuff,” he said.
Although he was unable to disclose specific details, Luckey said that “most of the stuff that we design is designed to go after China, more than Venezuela.” He said that while not many of his firm's products were used in the US raid on Venezuela, “If anyone goes toe-to-toe with China, you're going to see a lot Anduril stuff in the mix.”
