The US military successfully air-launched the Anduril drone, and Taiwan plans to follow suit and upgrade Black Hawk helicopters

The U.S. military successfully used UH-60M "Black Hawk" helicopters to launch Anduril's "Altius-700" series drones in the air and accurately hit the target. (Picture: taken from the video released by Anduril)

[Reporter Luo Tianbin/Reporting from Taipei] Palmer Luckey, the founder of the new US defense giant Anduril Industries, recently named Taiwan in a high-profile manner on the The U.S. military has just recently successfully practiced a new tactic of launching this type of drone in the air from UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters. Taiwan happens to have a fleet of this helicopter at the same time, and has officially signed a letter of offer to purchase 1,554 Altius-700M anti-armor attack drones. This "military-industrial direct shot" from Silicon Valley immediately triggered heated discussions in defense circles at home and abroad.

Senior government figures pointed out today that in the face of this wave of public roll-calls, Taiwan's smartest way to respond is to "go with the flow" and technically seek authorization directly from Anduril and the US military for ESSS external weapon mounts and operating software. Although the current general-purpose Black Hawk helicopters of the National Army lack aerodynamic launch tubes, if some Army Aviation or Air Force Black Hawks can be modified with software and hardware through original factory technical evaluation, it will not only break the restrictions of complicated wind tunnel testing, but also introduce Anduril's core Lattice AI mission computer system. This allows Taiwan to use existing assets to complete cross-generation avionics upgrades without spending huge sums of money to purchase new armed helicopters.

Please read on...

The U.S. defense technology startup "Anduril" was founded by Luckey in 2017. It has risen rapidly in recent years with its AI and autonomous combat systems. (Bloomberg)

At the tactical level, senior people believe that this is an excellent opportunity to break the traditional thinking of army building. At present, the national army's initial plan for the Altius-700M that is about to be installed is to distribute it to the army for ground or vehicle-mounted launches; but if it can practice "air release", the Black Hawk helicopter can be transformed into an "air drone aircraft carrier." During wartime, the Black Hawk can hide behind Taiwan's central mountains or terrain cover, avoid the People's Liberation Army's air defense fire network, and directly fly drones across the sea to search and accurately attack enemy landing ships. This configuration of implementing asymmetric operations outside the security zone can maximize the return on investment of assets.

However, this "magic modification" project still has substantial technical and cost challenges. The Altius-700M has a total weight of 30 kilograms. To ensure that the ejection does not collide with the fuselage when the helicopter is flying at high speed and the airflow is chaotic, extremely strict safety certification is required. In addition, a swarm console must be installed in the cabin, and a high-bandwidth, anti-interference encrypted data link antenna must be upgraded. Even so, the modification cost is still very cost-effective. Compared with purchasing a brand new attack helicopter from the United States, which can easily cost hundreds of millions of dollars each, the hardware and software integration budget for modifying each Black Hawk is estimated to be only about US$2 million to US$5 million, which is extremely cost-effective.

Senior people said that this direct goal is not only a technical exchange, but also a lever for strategic publicity. Taiwan recently conducted a live-fire test of Anduril's previous generation product, achieving an astonishing performance of hitting 100% of targets at sea. Luckey himself even publicly said, "This is why China sanctioned me." If Taiwan officials can generously accept the offer through informal channels and technical discussions at this time, and demonstrate to the world Taiwan's ability to quickly absorb new innovative defense technologies through Silicon Valley-style community interactions, they will be able to turn sanctions from the other side into "five-star praise" for Taiwan's weapons, creating a substantial and powerful psychological deterrent effect on Beijing.