Taiwan turns to US drone boats to track rising mainland Chinese sea activity

Taiwan’s coastguard is buying US-designed uncrewed surface vessels for its first dedicated drone-boat programme to strengthen its ability to detect and track the growing presence of mainland Chinese vessels operating around the island.

Florida-based Maritime Tactical Systems (Martac) announced on Tuesday that the deal covered an undisclosed number of its Devil Ray T24 autonomous boats, with production planned for both the United States and Taiwan.

Martac described the deal as “one of the most...