Taiwan’s drone exports have continued to grow significantly in recent months, but procurement delays, supply-chain vulnerabilities, and limited testing capacity constrain the industry. These were the findings of a report by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), which held a forum on the sidelines of SEMICON Taiwan 2026 on Thursday, September 3.

In the first six months of this year, Taiwan’s drone exports reached 191,373 units, already exceeding the 122,726 exported in all of 2025, the report said. Poland, the Czech Republic, and the United States were the principal export destinations.

However, procurement had stalled in Taiwan, the report said, after the opposition-led legislature in May removed funding for planned purchases of about 210,000 domestically produced drones. Although the legislature later approved a new six-year procurement framework in August, actual funding must still be appropriated and reviewed annually, DSET said, warning that no large-scale contracts for domestically produced combat drones may be awarded this year.

Moreover, apart from U.S. federal and state procurement, no other foreign government has publicly announced drone purchases from Taiwan, the report said, while Thunder Tiger remains the only Taiwanese firm known to have obtained U.S. Blue UAS certification, which provides an approved pathway for purchases by the U.S. military.

Speaking at the forum, former U.S. defense department contractor Trent Emeneker said the U.S. is also moving toward increasingly restrictive supply-chain requirements. That could pose a challenge for Taiwan, which still depends heavily on China for battery cells, rare-earth magnets, and other upstream materials used in drone production.

Director of Asia government relations at defense technology company Shield AI Maximilian Chen (陳奕儒) said Taiwan also lacks sites capable of testing “every category of drones that are needed.” The report also cited shortcomings at testing sites, including limited access to fixed airspace and special radio frequencies, as well as limited capacity to conduct beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations.