Taiwan’s top military research institute demonstrated three robot dog variants built on a U.S.-made platform, turning into public view a capability area that the defense ministry had already identified to lawmakers as part of its push to apply emerging technologies to asymmetric warfare.
The National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, or NCSIST, displayed the systems at the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei on June 2. The ministry said the demonstration featured LiDAR, reconnaissance, and firepower variants.
The robots use Ghost Robotics’ Vision 60 quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicle as the base platform, according to the defense ministry. NCSIST integrated Taiwan-developed mission payloads, including electro-optical reconnaissance, a remote-controlled turret system, and LiDAR combined with thermal-imaging recognition.
An official video posted by the Military News Agency, an organization under Taiwan’s defense ministry, showed three olive-drab quadruped robots moving in formation and operating outdoors. The video also showed variants labeled for reconnaissance, LiDAR, and firepower functions, including one model carrying a rear-mounted weapon station.
NCSIST Deputy Director Jen Kuo-kuang said the project is intended to help build a “non-red” supply chain and local production capacity, referring to supply chains that avoid dependence on Chinese components, according to the defense ministry.
Policy Trail
The demonstration followed an April 27 defense ministry report to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign and National Defense Committee on the Defense Innovation Office’s use of emerging technology for asymmetric warfare.
In that report, the ministry said recent wars have moved from traditional force-on-force battles toward asymmetric warfare built around large numbers, lower costs, high efficiency, unmanned systems, and artificial intelligence.
The ministry said it created the Defense Innovation Office to bring mature civilian technologies into military use, promote smart innovation, and accelerate defense applications.
The report said Taiwan’s armed forces planned to introduce highly mobile, multifunctional, and modular quadruped robots, unmanned transport vehicles, and tactical vehicles for reconnaissance, strike, and resupply missions in depth and urban operations.
