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Lawrence Chung

Taiwan has signed a deal with US defence start-up Vatn Systems to develop autonomous underwater vehicles and strengthen its asymmetric warfare capabilities amid growing military pressure from Beijing.
Executed through the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) – Taiwan’s government-funded top weapons developer – the agreement marks the latest in a series of moves to expand the island’s unmanned underwater capabilities.
Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, NCSIST and Vatn will explore artificial intelligence-enabled command-and-control systems, deploy autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and establish supply-chain and maintenance support in Taiwan.
NCSIST said the partnership would combine overseas technology with Taiwan’s industrial and research capabilities to accelerate AUV development and systems integration, while strengthening underwater reconnaissance and maritime defence resilience.
“Taiwan is one of many allies rethinking what undersea defence looks like,” Vatn co-founder and CEO Nelson Mills was quoted as saying in a statement last week.
“Building affordable undersea autonomy for US and allied partners and deploying that capability at scale is core to our strategy, and this agreement gives us a chance to explore how that technology can support Taiwan’s naval modernisation efforts.”

Vatn specialises in relatively low-cost autonomous underwater systems that can be configured with different ranges, sensors and levels of precision in line with mission requirements. The agreement includes plans to field the company’s S12 AUV, according to Vatn.
The partnership comes as Taiwan increasingly looks to unmanned underwater systems for surveillance, seabed mapping, mine countermeasures and the protection of critical infrastructure.
The island is also exploring the potential military applications of the systems as part of its preparations for any cross-strait conflict.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve reunification. Most countries – including the United States, Taiwan’s main international backer – do not recognise the self-ruled island as an independent state. However, Washington is opposed to any attempt to take it by force.
NCSIST has also stepped up cooperation with US defence technology company Anduril Industries, from which it is acquiring a Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle.
The Dive-LD can operate at depths of up to 6,000 metres (19,685 feet) and remain under water for about 10 days at low speed. It measures 5.8 metres long and its modular architecture allows different sensors to be fitted according to mission requirements.
Anduril has already provided a similar vehicle for NCSIST personnel for training ahead of the Dive-LD’s expected delivery by the end of this month.
NCSIST officials said experience operating the Dive-LD would help the institute improve its own technologies in autonomous navigation, sensor integration, modular payloads and low-cost production.
“NCSIST is pursuing a two-track strategy for underwater unmanned systems,” Chang Yun-sheng, an official involved in the institute’s unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) programme, told reporters during a briefing in June.
Chang said the institute was drawing on the strengths of overseas suppliers while working with leading Taiwanese universities to develop critical underwater sensors and other indigenous technologies.
NCSIST has also pursued its own UUV development through the Huilong programme, which has produced a 30-metre, 100-tonne prototype that helped establish key technologies the institute now hopes to advance through cooperation with US companies.
Su Tzu-yun, a senior analyst at the government-funded Institute for National Defence and Security Research, said systems such as the Dive-LD could play an important role in monitoring Taiwan’s critical underwater infrastructure.
“It can conduct cable inspections and collect evidence after cables have been damaged,” Su said, adding that its ability to carry different sonar systems and sensors also gave it considerable potential for future military use.
He said seabed mapping and underwater surveillance were also well within the system’s capabilities.
Chou Yu-ping, a former planning director for Taiwan’s missile command, said the island had concentrated too much of its defence investment on large platforms and submarine programmes, leaving a “structural gap” in lower-cost underwater unmanned capabilities.
He said UUVs were inherently dual-use, with civilian applications ranging from inspecting offshore wind farms and undersea cables to seabed mapping. The same systems could potentially be adapted for military reconnaissance, mine hunting and anti-submarine surveillance.
Chou also called for regulations governing offshore UUV testing to be relaxed and designated testing zones established, arguing that outdated rules were hampering private-sector development and slowing the transition of new technologies into defence applications.
“When the private sector can already build underwater vehicles with reconnaissance capabilities for several million [New Taiwan] dollars, the question is no longer about technology,” he said.
“The question is whether the authorities are willing to recognise the importance of the underwater battlefield.”


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The deal with Vatn Systems aims to strengthen Taipei’s asymmetric warfare capabilities amid growing military pressure from Beijing


The deal with Vatn Systems aims to strengthen Taipei’s asymmetric warfare capabilities amid growing military pressure from Beijing.


Taiwan teams up with US start-up on underwater drones to boost island’s defences

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The deal with Vatn Systems aims to strengthen Taipei’s asymmetric warfare capabilities amid growing military pressure from Beijing

The deal with Vatn Systems aims to strengthen Taipei’s asymmetric warfare capabilities amid growing military pressure from Beijing