Anduril Delivers First Altius Kamikaze Drones to Taiwan, Builds Regional Presence

Anduril Industries has delivered the first tranche of its flagship Altius loitering munitions to Taiwan as part of a foreign military sale contract signed in 2024.

Completed just six months after the deal was announced, the handover marks a key milestone in Anduril’s expansion in the country and a broader step forward in Washington and Taipei’s defense cooperation.

The firm credited seamless coordination between the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, US officials, and industry partners for the fast turnaround.

“This is an enormously consequential moment for Anduril and for the free world,” said Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries.

“We produced Altius at risk because Taiwan needs defense capabilities now, not years from now. Anduril is committed to supporting Taiwan and our allies across the Indo-Pacific with the technology they need to deter aggression and preserve stability.”

Local Office and AI Partnership

Alongside the delivery, the California-based company launched Anduril Taiwan, a new office focused on local engineering, supply chain support, and program execution.

The site will establish a permanent footprint on the island and reinforce the American enterprise’s long-term commitment to supporting Taiwan’s defense industry.

Meanwhile, Anduril is also expanding its collaboration with Taipei’s state-owned research agency, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, under an agreement centered on AI-enabled command and control as well as unmanned systems.

The partnership has already integrated Anduril’s Lattice AI software with the organization’s technologies in recent joint demonstrations, with a live-fire exercise scheduled for later this month and additional joint displays planned for a defense exhibit in September.

“Anduril is here to stay in Taiwan, and we’re building a long-term physical presence to secure that,” Luckey stated.

“Taiwan has incredible engineering talent and world-class defense research. Working side by side, we can integrate AI, autonomy, and advanced systems at a speed that matches the threats we face.”

The Altius Combat Drone

Anduril’s Altius family of kamikaze drones includes long-range systems capable of autonomous precision strikes and aerial intelligence.

Depending on the variant, the platform offers an operational range of up to 273 miles (440 kilometers), a top speed of 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour, and a service ceiling of 15,000 feet (4,572 meters).

It has hover endurance of more than 4 hours and supports a variety of payloads, making it well-suited for high-risk missions where traditional systems may be too costly or vulnerable.