Taiwan's navy is requesting to purchase 36 units of the country's locally developed Ruiyuan II drone for NTD 12.6 billion as part of President Lai Ching-te's recent proposal for an eight-year special defense spending package of 1.25 trillion Taiwanese dollars. The drones are planned to be bought in annual batches of 12 units.
The maritime reconnaissance drone was absent from the previous year's budget and fell under the category of "unmanned vehicles and counter systems" outlined in the package. With a range exceeding 300 kilometers, the drone has been used to send real-time footage of target ships to command centers via wireless signals during live fire drills and passed evaluations for naval operational requirements in March 2023.
The military originally planned to begin buying the drones in three annual batches starting in 2025, but has since pushed the date back one year, potentially to align with Lai's recent special defense budget.
Earlier Ruiying II units were pre-production prototypes equipped with various configurations for testing. The military's interest in purchasing them indicates that the drone is about to move toward mass production.
Detailed information on the purchase remains undisclosed until budget approval.
