The U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) in the United States of ALTIUS 600M-V Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $300 million. The TECRO has requested to buy the following non-MDE: up to 291 ALTIUS 600M-V systems, comprised of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) loitering munition with extensible warhead and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera; ALTIUS 600 inert training UAVs; Pneumatic Integrated Launch Systems (PILS); PILS transport trailers; ground control systems; associated support, including spares; battery chargers; operator and maintenance training; operator, maintenance, and training manuals; technical manuals; logistics and fielding support; testing; technical assistance CONUS and OCONUS. The principal contractor will be Anduril, located in Atlanta, GA.
ALTIUS 600M-V Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was created by Area-I. In 2021, Anduril Industries, a venture-capital backed start-up, has acquired another start-up, air-launched effects maker Area-I. Area-I, based in Marietta, Georgia, will continue to operate under its own name. It will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Anduril, which is based in Irvine, California. The acquisition amount was not disclosed. In July 2020, Anduril raised a $200 million round of capital at a $1.9 billion valuation. Area-I is known for supplying the US Army with its Altius-600 air-launched effect, a sort of multipurpose UAV that the service is experimenting with. The US Army envisions air-launched effects deploying from rotorcraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), as well as communications and electronic warfare missions.
ALTIUS-600 is a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) designed to gather intelligence in real time. The UAS is part of ALTIUS (air-launched, tube-integrated, unmanned system) family of drones developed by Area-I, a US-based aerospace company specialised in the development of unmanned aircraft. The 27-pound (12-kilogram) system has an endurance of up to four hours. ALTIUS is an incredibly versatile platform that can be launched from ground, air or sea to conduct multiple mission types, to include standoff ISR&T, kinetic engagement, RF decoy, SIGINT, comms relay and cyber warfare. ALTIUS-M delivers best-in-class loitering time and range, while leveraging autonomy to execute collaborative teaming and coordinated strikes. ALTIUS provides a proven multi-domain launch capability across air, land and sea. Leveraging a variety of standardized launch systems, ALTIUS can integrate onto a variety of platforms and vehicles, such as MRZR, JLTV, UH-60, AC-130J and Kratos Valkyrie XQ-58.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) or Taipei Mission, is an alternative diplomatic institution serving as a de facto embassy or a consulate of the Republic of China (ROC, commonly referred to as Taiwan) to exercise the foreign affairs and consular services in specific countries which have established formal diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC, commonly referred to as China). The PRC denies the legitimacy of the ROC as a sovereign state and claims the ROC-controlled territories as an integral part of its territory. An exclusive mandate, namely One-China policy, requires that any country wishing to establish a diplomatic relationship with the PRC must first sever any formal relationship with the ROC. TECROs state that their aim is “to promote bilateral trade, investment, culture, science and technology exchanges and cooperation, as well as better understanding”, and provide common citizen services towards overseas Taiwanese, such as issuing visas and passports.
