The Chinese Academy of Sciences exhibited the Kingbee IV drone during the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Exhibition in September last year. It also went to the United States to participate in the exhibition this year, and the response from foreign countries was quite enthusiastic. Now it is confirmed that mass production will be carried out in the drone park in Minxiong, Chiayi. (File photo, taken by reporter Fang Bin)
[Reporter Luo Tianbin/Reporting from Taipei] President Lai Qingde personally went south to Chiayi yesterday to preside over the groundbreaking and opening ceremony of the Minxiong UAV Industrial Park of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Eagle-eyed people and military fans noticed that the giant signboards at the event venue and the flags on the surrounding roads were all prominently printed with images of the "Powerful Bee IV" attack drone with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. This ingenious arrangement undoubtedly sends a strong signal to the outside world: the future core mass production base of this highly anticipated Taiwan-US cooperation drone with long-range strategic strike capabilities will be in the Minxiong Park.
The eastern campus of Minxiong is a military-standard drone base built with more than 1.1 billion yuan invested by the central government. There are not only high-tech R&D buildings inside, but also an integrated shed factory specially built for testing medium and large drones. The Chinese Academy of Sciences pointed out that the most important task of this academy is to be responsible for the research and development, testing and production of military-standard drones. The image of the "Powerful Bee Type 4" shined brightly at the opening ceremony, which means that its production line and testing environment are fully ready and it has officially taken root here.
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President Lai Qingde personally went south to Chiayi yesterday to preside over the groundbreaking and opening ceremony of the Minxiong UAV Industrial Park of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Eagle-eyed people and military fans discovered that the giant signboards at the event venue and the flags on the surrounding roads were all prominently printed with the image of the "Jeremore IV" attack drone with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. (Photo: Presidential Palace website)
The most powerful thing about this Kingbee IV drone, which has been described as a "low-priced version of a cruise missile," is its ultra-long range of up to 1,000 kilometers. Its fuselage is modified from the American-made MQM-178 unmanned target drone, integrating cutting-edge technologies from Taiwan and the United States. It does not need to rely on traditional airport runways. As long as it is mounted on a catapult rack, it can be maneuvered and deployed and launched at any time. Whether it is flying close to the sea at low altitude or penetrating at high altitude, it will not be difficult for it. It can directly strike across the sea and accurately attack the enemy's high-value targets.
In terms of tactical application, the Kingbee Type 4 is the ace card of the national army in asymmetric warfare. The maximum cruising speed is as high as Mach 0.69, and the final dive attack is closer to the speed of sound. Equipped with a 30kg high-explosive warhead, the destructive power is quite amazing. In the future, it will form a mixed formation with the Xionger E cruise missiles currently in service in the national army, using "group siege" tactics to saturate the enemy's air defense system and consume a large amount of the opponent's air defense missiles. In addition to suicide attacks, it can also be transformed into a reconnaissance radar or electronic jammer, with very diverse functions.
President Lai Qingde personally went south to Chiayi yesterday to preside over the groundbreaking and opening ceremony of the Minxiong UAV Industrial Park of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Eagle-eyed people and military fans noticed that the giant signboard at the event venue (top left) and the flags on the surrounding roads were all prominently printed with the image of the "Jeremore IV" attack drone with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. (Photo: Presidential Palace website)
During his on-site inspection, President Lai particularly emphasized that Taiwan’s drone industry is accelerating its take-off and called on the Legislative Yuan to pass the additional budget compiled by the Ministry of National Defense as soon as possible. With the simultaneous groundbreaking of the west side industrial park, it will attract more domestic high-quality manufacturers to settle in the future, and work with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to create an "Asia Center for Democratic Supply Chains." This thousand-kilometer-class drone, which symbolizes the asymmetric combat power of Taiwan and the United States, is fully accelerating mass production at Minxiong Base and will become the strongest backing for safeguarding security across the Taiwan Strait.
