Taiwan plans 292 Shield AI V-BAT drones across navy and coast guard, mostly for coastal missile units

TLDR

• Taiwan's navy plans 280 V-BAT drones over four years and the coast guard is buying 12, per Taipei Times.¹
• Most of the navy's drones, 212 of 280, are earmarked for coastal command and Hsiung Feng missile units.¹²
• Taiwan Defence says the navy has not formally chosen a vendor and the budget still needs legislative approval.²

Taipei Times reports that the navy and coast guard are acquiring 292 MQ-35A V-BAT vertical take-off and landing surveillance drones from Shield AI.¹ The navy plans to spend NT$36 billion under a four-year programme code-named Project Yuan Xiao on 280 drones, according to the defence ministry's fiscal 2027 report, while the coast guard budgeted NT$1.2 billion (US$37.1 million) for 12; the combined cost is put at NT$37.2 billion.¹ The ministry report says the navy order alone would exceed the roughly 250 V-BATs Shield AI had sold to the US and other NATO countries as of 2024, and that Taiwan could become the largest operator outside the US.¹

Of the navy's drones, 212 are earmarked for the Coastal Combat Command and Hsiung Feng anti-ship missile units, with the package also including 140 control systems and 82 ground transport vehicles, so missile units can keep reconnaissance and precision-strike capability when relocating or if their radars are destroyed.¹ Taiwan Defence, citing a Liberty Times report, says no more than 68 would go to major warships, and notes that the navy's combat-record claims for the V-BAT in Ukraine come largely from the manufacturer.²

The navy purchase is less settled than the coast guard's. Taiwan Defence says the vendor is not formally chosen and the budget must still pass the legislature, and that Shield AI president Brandon Tseng said on 2 October the company would bid for the planned navy purchase.² Janes reports that Shield AI announced on 13 October the delivery of the first V-BAT to the coast guard and said it will deliver 12 in the coming months, for ship-based maritime domain awareness, and says neither the coast guard nor the companies disclosed a contract value or total quantity.³ Taipei Times, by contrast, cites the NT$1.2 billion budget and describes the 12 as delivered, so the reports differ on delivery status.¹³ Shield AI says it will train coast guard operators and set up local support with Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC).¹³ Tseng said Taiwanese suppliers' share of V-BAT components should rise from 16 per cent to 25 per cent.¹²

Why it matters: if the navy plan holds, Taiwan would field one of the world's largest V-BAT fleets, mainly as a targeting aid for shore-based anti-ship missiles rather than for warships; because the navy figures come from a budget proposal, the vendor is not confirmed and Taipei Times and Janes differ on the coast guard's details, the final quantity, cost and timing remain open.