Taiwan taps satellite hookups to help down invading drones

MILAN — The Taiwanese military is testing a satellite-connected setup of drone countermeasures as part of a massive effort to bolster the island’s defenses of critical infrastructure and core communications network amid an uptick in Chinese probing.

The tests come as Taiwan is seeing Chinese military activity in the waters around the island, including drones flying within the country’s air defense identification zone. China views Taiwan as a rogue province and has threatened to take it back by force.

Tron Future, a Taiwan-based company, has been supporting the government in integrating counter-drone systems with Taiwan’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites through its T.SpaceRouter user terminals, expected to boost the island’s wartime communication resilience.

The T.SpaceRouter is a lightweight satellite communication terminal that uses active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology, envisioned to double as a kind of communication antenna relying on regional private 5G coverage.

“As our anti-drone systems will be able to connect with LEO satellites by the end of 2025, each C-UAS installation site can serve as a regional military communication hub with LEO satellite backbone – this will help prevent systemic collapse of the core communication network in potential future conflicts,” Dr. Yu-Jiu Wang, chief executive of Tron Future said.

The Taiwan Space Agency has launched an experimental satellite project dubbed Beyond 5G, which aims to develop two high-performance LEO spacecraft that will be deployed at an altitude of 600 kilometers.

Last year, Wang told Defense News that at the height of tensions, the company’s radars detected as many as 100 Chinese surveillance drones above the island in the span of a week.

According to the vendor, the Taiwanese military also recently began testing a variety of counter-drone active and passive radars, including Tron Future systems, as well as jammers.

These include achieving at least a 6 kilometers effective detection range for drones over the sea, with one of the target references being a Mavic 3 Pro, for active and passive radars, and at least a 4 kilometer effective jamming capability for drones, Wang said.

The government is expected to sign a contract with the winning contractor within two months as part of an order that could total tens of millions of dollars.

“A total of 26 sets of anti-drone systems need to be installed, with 13 sets to be completed within five months after signing the contract, and the entire procurement to be completed within 10 – the systems will be installed on the frontline islands closest to China,” the CEO said.

He noted that the closest distance from Taiwan’s outer islands to China is roughly 2 kilometers.

Taiwan is a major producer of computer chips, which means the country’s semiconductor factories are assumed targets in a potential Chinese attack besides military sites.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——随着中国试探活动的增加，台湾军方正在测试一套卫星连接的无人机对抗系统，这是台湾为加强关键基础设施和核心通信网络防御而采取的大规模举措的一部分。

此次试验正值台湾周边海域出现中国军事活动之际，其中包括无人机在台湾防空识别区内飞行。中国视台湾为叛离省份，并威胁要武力收复台湾。

总部位于台湾的创能未来公司一直通过其 T.SpaceRouter 用户终端，支持政府将反无人机系统与台湾的低地球轨道 (LEO) 卫星整合，预计这将提高台湾在战时的通信韧性。

T.SpaceRouter 是一款轻型卫星通信终端，采用有源电子扫描阵列 (AESA) 技术，其设计理念是兼作一种通信天线，依靠区域专用 5G 覆盖。

“到 2025 年底，随着我们的反无人机系统能够与低地球轨道卫星连接，每个反无人机系统部署点都可以作为以低地球轨道卫星骨干网为基础的区域军事通信枢纽——这将有助于防止在未来潜在的冲突中核心通信网络系统性崩溃，”创能未来首席执行官王宇九博士表示。

台湾航天局启动了一项名为“超越5G”的实验卫星计划，旨在开发两颗高性能低地球轨道（LEO）航天器，部署高度为600公里。

去年，王告诉《防务新闻》，在局势最紧张的时候，该公司雷达在一周内探测到多达 100 架中国侦察无人机在岛上空盘旋。

据供应商称，台湾军方最近也开始测试各种反无人机主动和被动雷达，包括 Tron Future 系统以及干扰器。

王表示，这些目标包括：无人机在海上至少实现 6 公里的有效探测距离（目标参考机型为 Mavic 3 Pro），用于主动和被动雷达；以及无人机至少 4 公里的有效干扰能力。

预计政府将在两个月内与中标承包商签署合同，该订单总额可能达数千万美元。

“总共需要安装26套反无人机系统，其中13套需要在签订合同后的五个月内完成，整个采购工作需要在10个月内完成——这些系统将安装在距离中国最近的前线岛屿上，”首席执行官说。

他指出，台湾外岛距离中国大陆最近的距离约为2公里。

台湾是电脑芯片的主要生产地，这意味着除了军事设施外，台湾的半导体工厂也可能成为中国潜在攻击的目标。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。