DEFENSE/Taiwan to establish offshore drone battalion for early threat response

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) The Army will soon deploy a drone battalion in the offshore Penghu County, significantly bolstering its early warning capabilities in the event of an enemy attack, according to a military source with knowledge of the matter.

The move will expand the area covered by Taiwan's early warning mechanisms and enable the military to conduct anti-blockade operations closer to the enemy as well as swiftly deploy kill chains using drones and anti-ship missiles, the source told local media on Thursday.

The drone battalion will be established in Penghu County, located in the Taiwan Strait about 45 kilometers off the coast of Taiwan, and will be upgraded from an existing squadron there, the Chinese-language Liberty Times reported on Thursday.

The report said the battalion in Penghu will likely be launched in July and be under the ROC Army Penghu Defense Command in Magong, but it did not provide any details on its proposed size.

Army Chief of Staff Chen Chun-yi (陳俊義) told legislators in October 2025 that the Army will establish a drone battalion in each of Taiwan's five theaters of operations to defend northern, central, southern and eastern Taiwan, as well as offshore Penghu County.

The Army established three drone battalions in April of this year in the country's northern, southern and central regions.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at Taiwan's government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, described the deployment of drones on the country's offshore islands as strategically significant.

The move will leverage the strengths of drones, namely their long-range reconnaissance and beyond-visual-range striking capabilities, significantly strengthening Taiwan's defense posture and anti-landing efforts, Su said.