Taiwan has launched an aerospace and drone industrial campus designed to host 100 companies and establish a supply chain free of Chinese components.
President Lai Ching-te led the opening ceremony on September 28 at the state-run National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), the country’s leading developer of missiles and military drones.
Named Minxiong, the campus took more than three years to build and includes research facilities, hangars, and testing laboratories covering the full drone development process, from design to airframe assembly.
The campus also uses AI-powered “digital twin” technology to create digital replicas of drones, allowing teams to simulate and test designs before conducting real-world flights.
An adjacent industrial park will bring together manufacturers, government agencies, and universities, giving them access to shared computing resources and engineering tools.
NCSIST said the campus is intended to establish what it called a “non-red supply chain” and support Taiwan’s goal of becoming a major supplier of drone components in Asia.
National Drone Strategy
The Minxiong campus expands on Taiwan’s earlier investment in a drone research and development center that opened in Puzi in 2022.
The site reportedly operated without manufacturers for several years but now hosts more than 50 drone companies and institutions, with another 50 firms waiting to move in.
Minxiong is part of Taiwan’s broader drone strategy, under which NCSIST develops mid-sized systems while private companies focus on smaller dual-use drones and related technologies.
