Taiwan's Air Force Fourth Wing on Aug. 11 publicly unveiled a domestically developed drone defense system for the first time during Han Kuang 42, deploying it in a live base-protection exercise to validate an integrated counter-drone process spanning detection, command and control, jamming and interception.
All-Weather Detection With Domestic Technology
The exercise simulated an adversary using drones to conduct sustained aerial reconnaissance and coordinated harassment against military installations and surrounding transportation nodes — aimed at mapping out base defenses and troop dispositions. When unidentified low-altitude drones penetrated the base's airspace, defending troops activated the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) Remote-Controlled Drone Defense System, which performed all-weather search and precise geolocation of the intruding aircraft. Commanders then assessed the threat level and selected from two neutralization methods.
Soft Kill and Hard Kill Working in Tandem
For soft kill, troops rapidly deployed handheld drone jammers to sever the drone's control signals and GPS link, forcing it to land or return to its launch point. For hard kill, base air defense firepower was brought to bear for physical interception, ensuring core protection targets remained secure.
Drones Now a Battlefield Game-Changer, Air Force Warns
The Air Force Command said drones have emerged as a battlefield-altering threat in recent international conflicts and that strengthening air base drone defenses is now urgent. The exercise validated the full integrated "detect, command and control, jam, intercept" process, directly improving base-level units' capacity to respond in real time to low-altitude saturation attacks and harassment operations.
