The boom of the drone business
Last year, Thunder Tiger’s Overkill drones became the first from an Asian company to qualify for the Pentagon List of approved blue unmanned aircraft systemswhich certifies commercial drones for use by the US military. The small first-person view (FPV) drones cost between $3,000 and $5,000 each, according to reports from Rest of the worldand are similar to the many explosive FPV drones used on Ukrainian battlefields.
Thunder Tiger has also started producing larger kamikaze drones starting at $30,000 according to the LUCAS ABOUT US One-way attack drones, Rest of World reported. LUCAS drones are themselves reverse-engineered versions of Iran’s Shahed drones which have been used in large numbers by both Russia and Iran.
Another unidirectional attack drone inspired by Israel’s Harpy drone was developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), a Taiwanese state corporation, according to the DSET Taiwanese Study Center.
Taiwanese companies also export many drone components. For example, Thunder Tiger has been supplying drone components to three companies participating in the US Department of Defense’s $1 billion Drone Mastery Program, according to DSET. Taiwanese companies are also directly flight controller supplybatteries, motors and other microelectronic drone components to Ukrainian companies, while the Czech Republic and Poland import tens of thousands of Taiwanese drones that can sometimes pass to Ukraine.
In March 2026, Thunder Tiger even expanded its overseas supply chain by establishing a U.S. facility in Ohio capable of producing more than 60,000 drone motors each year, Thunder Tiger general manager Gene Su said in a statement. IEEE Spectrum interview.
Given their focus on hardware manufacturing expertise, Taiwanese drone companies often turn to American companies and others with more experience in artificial intelligence and software. Taiwan’s NCSIST has sought to boost the AI capabilities of its drones by partnering with Western companies such as Anduril, Auterion and Shield AI, according to DSET. Meanwhile, Thunder Tiger has purchased AI software from Auterion to incorporate it into its wider range of drones, ground robots and marine drones.
