Nikkei: U.S. Drone Maker Teams Up with Taiwan's Utech to Help Build 'Taiwan Dome'

(Taipei, 15th - CNA international report) Nikkei Asia reported that Wahid Nawabi, CEO of U.S. defense technology firm AeroVironment, has pledged to assist Taiwan in building the 'Taiwan Dome' and has already signed a partnership agreement with a Taiwanese company to expand software opportunities in Taiwan's drone industry.

According to Nikkei Asia, AeroVironment (AV), headquartered in Virginia and listed on the NASDAQ, is known for producing the 'Switchblade' drone, which automatically detonates its warhead upon impact with a target. Ukraine has deployed these drones to repel invading Russian forces.

Last week, AeroVironment signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Utech, a Taipei-based company specializing in rugged remote controllers and computing equipment. The two parties will collaborate on unmanned systems and mission management capabilities to support Taiwan's defense reforms and drone programs.

The report states that AeroVironment will install and configure its Kinesis mission management software onto Utech's remote controller platforms.

Wahid Nawabi, CEO of AeroVironment, told Nikkei Asia in Taipei: 'We will integrate these two capabilities to create a new product for Taiwan, enabling Taiwan's military to fly, control, and operate multiple drones, multiple loitering munitions (suicide drones), and multiple systems using a single remote controller... The brain of the remote comes from AV, the external hardware from Utech.'

The goal is to provide scalable and interoperable systems tailored to support Taiwan's self-defense capabilities, leveraging Taiwan's industrial base for production.

AeroVironment last year announced a partnership with Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology to jointly develop Taiwan's unmanned and precision strike ecosystem.

Like other U.S. defense tech firms such as Anduril and Shield AI, AeroVironment has established a presence in Taiwan to seize opportunities in the island's drone development.

Nawabi said: 'We are actually able to help Taiwan advance the Taiwan Dome initiative.' He was referring to President Lai Ching-te's declaration to build a robust air defense system to protect Taiwan from missile, rocket, drone, and fighter jet attacks from China.

He added: 'We have been deeply involved in the development of the U.S. Golden Dome solution.' He also said that AeroVironment is 'currently installing and deploying' systems at two specific locations in the United States.

'The technologies we are investing in and developing are directly relevant to the Taiwan Dome,' he said.

In addition to manufacturing drones, Nawabi emphasized that Taiwan must cultivate personnel with the knowledge to operate these systems.

'This phenomenon is not unique to Taiwan. The nature of war has changed globally. It's a shift in mindset. Military leaders around the world, including in the U.S., are asking: How do we fight future wars?'

He said that in future conflicts, offensive and defensive capabilities related to robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and autonomy will play an increasingly significant role.

'You will see soldiers equipped with various robotic systems, multiple drones, loitering munitions, suicide drones, ground robots, and underwater robots. But it's extremely difficult for a single operator to manage, operate, and control multiple systems using multiple remotes and multiple software platforms.'

Nawabi further noted: 'For the military, maintaining, logistics, training, and sustaining all these devices will also be challenging.' (Translated by Liu Shu-chin) 1150615