Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) recently embarked on a plan to increase the size of the country’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) fleet. The buildup of the UAV fleet comes as the MND is consolidating the Taiwanese Navy’s Hai Feng Anti-Ship Missile Group into the new Sea Control Missile Command.
The ministry plans to incorporate the UAV fleet into the new command once it becomes established to provide intelligence that the units will use to conduct strike missions. The command’s headquarters will be established in Huwei Township, located in Yunlin County, along Taiwan’s western coast, with construction to be completed by the end of 2024.
The command will manage the four missile strike groups located along the northern, central, southern, and eastern coasts of the island and be tasked with defending the island’s coastlines.
The creation of the missile command is part of the MND’s larger plan for the “production and delivery” of the indigenously developed Hsiung Feng II, Hsiung Feng III, and Hsiung Feng III Extended Range Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles and the U.S.-made Harpoon Coastal Defense Missile Systems.
