DSET Attends U.S.–Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in D.C., Advocates for Joint Development and Production of Uncrewed Systems

The 24th U.S.–Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, organized by the U.S.–Taiwan Business Council, was held from October 19 to 21 in Ellicott City, Maryland. The event brought together around 200 representatives from the U.S. and Taiwanese governments, defense industries, and think tanks. Discussions centered on Taiwan Strait security, defense supply chain resilience, and allied cooperation, exploring the future direction of the Indo-Pacific defense architecture. Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Armaments of the Ministry of National Defense, General Chung Shu-Ming, attended and delivered a keynote address for the first time.

DSET Policy analyst Cathy Fang participated in the opening panel, “Assessing Taiwan’s National Security Challenges,” focusing on Taiwan’s uncrewed systems policies and industry development. Other panelists included Randall Schriver, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs; Chen Liang-Chih, Associate Research Fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR); and Hsu Chih-Hsiang, Assistant Research Fellow at INDSR. The panel was moderated by Rupert Hammond-Chambers, President of the U.S.–Taiwan Business Council.

Fang emphasized that the integration of uncrewed systems and C5ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Combat Systems, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) has become the core of next-generation deterrence. She argued that U.S.–Taiwan defense cooperation should move beyond the traditional “arms sales–procurement” model toward a long-term partnership of joint production and joint R&D. Such a framework would enable a sustainable, scalable, and rapidly adaptable joint force.

She pointed out that Ukraine produces over 4 million drones per year, whereas Taiwan’s output in 2024 was only about 10,000 units. Although production is expected to rise significantly in 2025—with expanded government procurement possibly boosting capacity to tens of thousands of units annually—Taiwan’s production scale and supply chain integration still need improvement. Fang called for localized subsystem manufacturing and joint production between Taiwan and the U.S., combining Taiwan’s manufacturing strengths with U.S. capabilities in AI, autonomous navigation, and command-and-control (C2). This integration, she said, would enhance communication resilience, multi-domain coordination, and C5ISR integration, helping realize President Lai Ching-te’s “T-Dome” defense vision.

Compared to previous years, which mainly focused on arms sales and large platforms, this year’s conference highlighted “whole-of-society defense resilience” and the development of unmanned vehicles, signaling a shift in defense strategy. Overall, U.S.–Taiwan defense cooperation is evolving from a procurement-driven model to one of strategic co-development. From unmanned systems to C5ISR integration, and from supply chain security to technology transfer, both sides are working together to build a “democratic defense supply ecosystem”—strengthening the long-term resilience and technological edge of the Indo-Pacific defense network.