Taiwan Today

From fires to natural disasters, domestically produced drones are on the front line of emergency response.
 

The atmosphere at the Nuannuan branch of the Keelung City Fire Department (KCFD) was charged with excitement on July 5 as the department officially established a 35-member drone team. Each volunteer was certified as a professional operator by the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA), and they impressed ceremony attendees by demonstrating the drones’ capacity for scoping out a disaster site and hoisting relief supplies. Taiwan’s first fire-extinguishing drone was the star of the show as it put out flames from high above the target. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is the result of research conducted by the KCFD and partners and is capable of flying up to 30 stories high.

KCFD began using UAVs to tackle disasters in 2016, making it one of the first fire departments in Taiwan to do so, said KCFD head You Jia-yi (游家懿). Its drone team has since grown to encompass approximately 65 drone operators including 30 full-time firefighters. The team guides 14 UAVs, each with a specific capability, from aerial reconnaissance of a disaster area to transport of aid to affected people. As the team’s role has expanded to include responding to disasters spanning landslides, earthquakes and  aircraft crashes and performing rescues at sea, the department has increased its recruitment of volunteer operators.

“Disaster relief is trending away from boots on the ground and toward remotely controlled high-tech equipment, which can protect first-line rescue crews from rushing into a high-risk scene under-informed,” You said. “Volunteers boost the department’s disaster handling capabilities, especially in extreme weather that makes many search-and-rescue operations more challenging than ever.” You added that drones are especially important for Keelung as 96 percent of the city’s land is hilly terrain, which is much easier to navigate using drones than fire trucks. “Drones have also become more important because they’re increasingly available with artificial intelligence [AI] features like image-processing algorithms that flag victims for the operator, even in chaotic visual fields like a debris-strewn patch of sea.”

New Developments
UAVs are now used in 22 fire departments around Taiwan, with the National Fire Agency (NFA) offering subsidies for certain drone types since last year. Local governments around Taiwan currently hold 350 drones, including those donated by the private sector. A licensing system for operators has been established and training programs have been organized to meet growing demand.

To guide drones of 2 kilograms or more, an operator must pass a written test to receive a regular license from the CAA. Obtaining a basic professional license for drones of 15 kilograms and over requires operators to pass additional specific skill-based tests, while those who work for fire departments and similar organizations must qualify for a high-level professional license to carry out special missions like night flights and dropping payloads in disaster areas. The NFA also offers a five-day on-the-job advanced training course for operators from local fire departments with professional licenses, teaching trainees how to maneuver the devices in mountainous terrain and above water, among other skills.

As Taiwan looks to drones for assisting with disaster relief, R&D in the field is expanding rapidly, due in no small part to work by high-tech enterprises and the state-supported Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Hsinchu County. The pace accelerated in the past year in response to the geopolitical situation and the subsequent urgency to establish a non-red, democratic supply chain. Taiwan has turned to drones manufactured by fellow democracies, while working hard to become self-sufficient through the development and manufacture of indigenous UAVs. Almost half of the 88 NFA-subsidized devices added to the 22 fire departments’ drone fleets last year were produced in Taiwan.

“Seeking self-reliance is important as domestic manufacturers can respond better and more quickly to user need in Taiwan,” said Weng Shih-yang (翁世洋), section chief of the NFA’s disaster rescue and emergency medical services division. “When the domestic supply chain is mature, you don’t need to worry about disruptions,” he added. Developing the industry also benefits domestic employment and cultivates staff with high-tech skills.

Made in Taiwan
State-supported Asia UAV AI Innovation Application R&D Center in Chiayi County began operation in 2022 as part of domestic production. The center, a major cluster of drone-manufacturing enterprises, has quickly become a platform for facilitating exchanges between the industry and drone purchasers such as fire departments. “Users share their practical experience and expectations for the drones they work with, and manufacturers adjust and optimize the products to reflect those needs,” Weng noted.

Chang Jen-yuan (張禎元), ITRI’s general director of Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories (MMSL) said that the institute has various bodies within it all working in synergy on drone innovation since entering the field in 2017. From delivery drones with high-efficiency motors to the redundant flight controller that ensures mission reliability with dual-system fail-safes, eight groundbreaking advancements made by ITRI researchers in drone applications, software systems and key components were on display in the Taiwan Pavilion at XPONENTIAL Europe 2025 in February, the leading trade fair for autonomous technologies and robotics. “ITRI’s research with MMSL on drones puts significant emphasis on improving payload capacity, as disaster relief operations often involve deliveries of heavy supplies,” Chang said.

Challenges in the field are a fruitful source of research advancements. In April 2024 when Hualien County was hit by an earthquake, rescue teams operating drones in affected mountainous areas found that image-transmission distances were too limited. ITRI’s Information and Communications Research Laboratories has since developed and successfully tested an alternative tactic that can ensure long-distance transmissions of drone images: deploying multiple drones to form a stable multi-UAV relay system that can extend communication range.

Global Reach
As Taiwan enhances strengths in the field of drone technology, it seeks to expand overseas markets for the sector and works closely with international partners in the democratic supply chain. In 2024 the Ministry of Economic Affairs founded the Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance (TEDIBOA), which comprises around 250 members, including ITRI, as well as drone and drone parts manufacturers. Led by Aerospace Industrial Development Corp., a top Taiwanese aviation firm, the group is tasked with advancing international cooperation and accelerating the industry’s development via exchanges through platforms like XPONENTIAL Europe. “Taiwan and potential global partners can benefit each other,” said Johnny Fu (傅如彬), general director of ITRI’s Office of Business Development. “We’re a reliable partner in non-red supply chains, and as we promote our products and technologies to foreign enterprises, we are incentivized to continue upgrading them.”

This year saw encouraging progress for Taiwan in cooperation with Japanese partners. In March TEDIBOA signed a memorandum of understanding for supply chain cooperation with its counterpart Japan Drone Consortium (JDC), which has nearly 300 members. Representatives of ACSL, Japan’s largest drone maker, subsequently visited Taiwan to discuss cooperation with prospective partners, and Japanese and Taiwanese drone companies had solidified ties by the time that Japan Drone 2025 took place in June. “Supporting the indigenous UAV industry by building international connections sets our drone sector up for success and ensures supply of a key logistical tool for disaster relief operations,” Fu said.

Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw