TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Most Western countries want to make Taiwan too costly for China to seize, Anduril Industries Founder Palmer Luckey said in a “60 Minutes Australia” interview last week.
“The winning move is for them to be convinced to not play,” Luckey said.
Luckey said Anduril is already delivering missiles, loitering munitions and other weapons that “make it much harder for China to get across the strait, land on Taiwan, and invade it.” The company is also assisting with air defense systems that protect Taiwan’s critical infrastructure and installations from a Chinese attack, he said.
Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) confirmed last August that Taiwan received the first batch of Altius-600M attack drones it purchased from Anduril.
Luckey said the weapons provided to Taiwan are a combination of offense and defense. If China knows Taiwan can shoot all of its missiles and destroy its vessels in the strait, “that’s going to give them pause in deciding what they are going to do tomorrow, the next month, next year,” he said.
Taiwan’s Metal Industries Research and Development Centre signed a cooperation agreement with Anduril in early June to collaborate on drones, autonomous systems, and trusted supply chains.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said the partnership will focus on AI applications, drone manufacturing, supply chain integration, and local production. More than 10 Taiwan companies have already received Anduril orders for prototype or mass production work, the ministry said.
