U.S. Military AI Giant Anduril Signs Landmark Defence Deal with the Republic of China Armed Forces

The American military AI giant Anduril Industries has signed a memorandum of understanding for direct collaboration with the Republic of China’s top defence research institute the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), which represents a major landmark in the strengthening of military research and development ties between Taipei and Washington. The agreement covers cooperation in areas that include autonomous systems and the Lattice AI-enabled command and control platform, which is being developed to support realtime battlefield decision making. It is expected to provide the Republic of China Armed Forces (RoCAF) with special access to a number of advanced U.S. defence technologies, as part of a growing efforts by the services to utilise emerging technologies to strengthen military capabilities.

An informed source stressed regarding the agreement that “It’s not just about importing tech. It’s about changing the way we build, test, and deploy defence capabilities. OTA enables the kind of speed and flexibility needed in modern conflict.” The source added that it remained in question whether the RoCAF’s defence bureaucracy would be able to move fast enough to utilise the full benefits of this. Named after the fictional sword of the protagonist Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, Anduril Industries was founded in 2017 by multiple former defence officials, and focuses on the development of artificial intelligence and robotics for the Pentagon. The firm has consistently been highly outspoken on a number of issues, and commented regarding the revelation of its agreement with the RoCAF: “Looks like we’re doing something right. We remain unwavering in our commitment to defending democracy across the globe.”

The Republic of China government based in Taipei remains in a state of civil war with the rival People’s Republic of China government based in Beijing, with both claiming to be the sole legitimate Chinese governments. Although the United States, United Nations and the vast majority of the international community recognise only the government in Beijing, countries across the Western world have strongly sided with the Republic of China government, which geopolitically is closely aligned with Western interests and has a political system closely modelled on those in the Western world. The new agreement follows a major expansion in American arms sales to re-equip the RoCAF over the past six years, including the planned but much delayed transfers of 66 F-16 Block 70 fighters, 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and a wide range of other assets.