Taiwan's drone exports have grown about 55-fold over the past year, with Poland and the Czech Republic the largest buyers, National Security Council deputy secretary-general Lin Fei-fan said on September 19. Lin spoke to reporters after chairing the first panel of the Presidential Office's 2026 international forum on whole-of-society defence resilience, held at the Grand Hyatt Taipei, CNA reported.
Where are the drones going? The Polish and Czech buyers of Taiwanese drone products and components are "not necessarily" using them in their own countries, Lin said, adding that he believed there was much potential room for cooperation. Asked whether Taiwan could work with Ukraine on a "non-red" supply chain, he said the opportunities were "very many", Liberty Times reported.
What is Ukraine seeking? Lin said Taiwan's advantage is that it is building a "non-red" supply chain and can make drone components that are 100 percent Taiwan-made. A great many Ukrainian friends have been in contact with Taiwan hoping to further shed their reliance on Chinese components, he said. His remarks on Ukraine answered a question about German lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter, who recently said Ukraine had been forced out of "desperation" to deal with China for drone parts and hoped Taiwan would further improve Ukraine's drone supply chain, CNA reported. On a call by panellist Clara Kaluderovic, an American expert, for Taiwan to send people to Ukraine to learn from its experience, Lin said Taiwan's diplomatic situation with Ukraine, including visa issues, made that difficult, but that many civil groups had Ukraine experience and Taiwan could also bring Ukrainians to Taiwan for exchanges.
What did he say about drone funding? Support for the drone industry is very strong, Lin said, citing the Executive Yuan's proposed drone special act and the government's hope that a supplementary budget would pass to supply three types of drones the defence ministry urgently needs. He said he could not disclose discussions with the US on the "Hellscape" operational concept, which an Economist report described as jointly pursued by the US and Taiwanese militaries.
Who else spoke on defence technology? At the same forum, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey gave a keynote speech, then held a conversation with Lin, in which he said that with China's defence spending 8 to 10 times Taiwan's, Taiwan has to "cheat" rather than fight fairly, Liberty Times reported. Lin opened by welcoming Luckey as a "sanctioned comrade", as both have been sanctioned by Beijing, and Luckey said he had framed China's sanction notice and hung it in his office.
