The annual science and technology and national defense event "2026 Aegis Cup International Invitational Tournament and National Defense AI Competition" hosted by the National Sun Yat-sen Academy of Sciences will kick off for two consecutive days starting today at the Guangfu Campus of National Cheng Kung University. Second from the left is Li Shiqiang, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Top multinational hackers and defense technology elites gathered in Tainan today! The annual science and technology and national defense event "2026 Aegis Cup International Invitational Tournament and National Defense AI Competition" hosted by the National Sun Yat-sen Academy of Sciences will kick off for two consecutive days starting today at the Guangfu Campus of National Cheng Kung University. Since its inception in 2016, this year it has officially entered an important milestone spanning ten years. The specifications of this event have been fully upgraded. For the first time, it has broken away from the previous framework and moved towards the "International Invitational Tournament" format. The total prize money has been directly increased to 2.55 million yuan, setting a record high. Experts compete in the same field to demonstrate the rich technical capabilities of the combination of AI and national defense.
The most eye-catching highlight this year is the first-ever international-level "Earth-to-Ocean War" security attack and defense. The organizer specially invited five international strong teams, including the long-time victors of the World Hacking Competition (DEF CON CTF), including the American MMM, the international team Water Paddler, and BoB, a top talent cultivated by South Korea's national program. The Taiwanese local camp will be contested by the top 10 information security teams that emerged from the online qualifying competition, as well as the previous championship team. This group of top hackers will conduct a high-tension closed-door digital attack and defense at the venue, testing the strength of large-scale language model defense and intranet penetration, which is full of smoke and smoke.
In the National Defense AI Competition, the "AI Pilot Challenge" project uses the JSBSim flight simulation platform to build an F-16 air combat simulation environment. The participating teams independently develop AI flight control programs and conduct one-on-one simulated air combat. The top four winning teams will be selected.
In addition to the traditional information security capture the flag competition, this year in response to new types of unmanned and intelligent defense challenges, four major competition events that accurately meet national defense needs have been added. Among them, the most topical "AI Pilot Challenge" attracted a total of 49 teams to participate. They must use their own developed AI programs to conduct one-on-one automated simulated air combat dogfights in a virtual F-16 air combat environment. There is also a national defense AI competition with a total prize of NT$900,000, in which 10 cross-school and military academy teams, including National Taiwan University, National Cheng Kung University, and Yang-Ming National Chiao Tung University, compete on-site for research and development achievements such as autonomous control of unmanned vehicles and smart reconnaissance.
This technological event is not only a competition for experts, but also a communication platform connecting campuses, industries and research institutions. In addition to the intensive online broadcast of the war situation, the organizer also thoughtfully added the "National Defense Experience" and "Manufacturer Exhibition" this year, which are completely free and open to the public. At the final venue, everyone can see and experience a number of iconic technological military equipment such as dexterous robotic war dogs, digital warrior exoskeletons, stinger missiles, and rifle shooting training simulators, and vividly experience the true power of innovative technology to protect our homeland.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences emphasized that the results of all competitions will be officially announced tomorrow. This event will not only promote in-depth exchanges between national defense needs and private research and development results, but also provide opportunities to discover defense AI technology and information security talents with unlimited potential. It is worth mentioning that it is understood that Taiwanese college students who have outstanding performance on site will have the opportunity to be recruited by the military to serve in core information departments such as the Information, Communications and Electronics Army when they serve in the compulsory service in the future. This will directly inject the top civilian digital combat power into national defense and continue to promote the implementation and application of Taiwan's digital defense resilience.
The National Defense Experience at the venue showcases a four-legged robot (robot dog).
