The picture shows the launch of the 600M attack drone. (File photo, provided by the Ministry of National Defense)
[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Comprehensive Report] The Ministry of National Defense announced at the end of August that it had won the bid to purchase the Anduril ALTIUS unmanned aerial vehicle missile system, with a total amount of NT$26.9 billion, which was an additional purchase for the "Owl Hunting Project". However, the case has recently been exposed by the media. The first batch of ALTIUS-600M purchased by the United States was not included in the price offer because the manufacturer's charger was made in China. The Army was not aware of this. To this day, if the drone's power drops, it still needs to be charged by US personnel. In this regard, the Army stated that the original factory has completed the development of non-red supply chain chargers and will deliver them according to the planned schedule; when ALTIUS-600M is delivered, the power will be 100%, which will not affect combat readiness.
At the end of August, the Ministry of National Defense announced that it had won the bid to purchase Anduril's "ALTIUS-700M anti-armor attack type" and "ALTIUS-600ISR intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance type" unmanned aerial missile systems, with a quantity of up to 2,032 units, as a continuation of the "Owl Hunting Project".
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However, the "Owl Hunting Project" has been exposed by the media recently. When the Army purchased the ALTIUS-600M, it did not purchase the charger as planned. Instead, it was not until after receiving the equipment that it discovered that the charger was not purchased. The Army then asked the U.S. side, and it turned out that the U.S. side did not include the manufacturer's charger in the price offer because it was produced in China. In other words, when the Army purchased ALTIUS-600M, it only relied on the US price offer and did not find that the US had not included the charger from the beginning, let alone that the charger was made in China.
In response, the Army has asked the United States to purchase non-Chinese chargers, but as of April 2026, it has not found an alternative source, so the ALTIUS-600M still needs American technical representatives to come to Taiwan to assist in charging.
In addition, the ALTIUS-600M consumes ammunition once, but the number of spare batteries purchased by the Army is nearly 8 times the number of aircraft. In this regard, the military has proposed a reduction request to the United States, but the United States is still discussing it, and whether it will ultimately agree is still unknown.
At the same time, when the "Owl Hunting Project" budgeted expenditures, something unexpected happened. When the Ministry of National Defense initially prepared its annual budget, it included 11.5 billion yuan based on the initial US quotation. However, the final amount offered by the US was approximately more than 5.5 billion yuan, with a price difference of more than 6 billion yuan. After the relevant situation was discovered by the Legislative Yuan, legislators questioned the military's floating budget, and even legislators from the ruling party asked the army to explain.
Regarding related disputes, the Army stated that the Army purchased this type of UAV with a body battery and a backup battery. As for the charger, the original factory has completed the development of non-red supply chain chargers and will be delivered to the Army as planned. When the ALTIUS-600M UAV is delivered, the power is 100%, which will not affect combat readiness.
