Ulf Steindl
Why Taiwan and the EU Should Align on Drones
and Why They Should Do It Upstream
Externe Publikation
07.08.2026 / Europäische Sicherheit und Verteidigung / Indo-Pazifik
#drones #Taiwan #EU #European defence capacity #geoeconomics
The rapid expansion of drone warfare in Ukraine has demonstrated that future conflicts will depend not only on technological sophistication but on the ability to produce and replenish unmanned systems at scale. This presents a shared challenge for Taiwan and the European Union: both face strategic vulnerabilities that make resilient, scalable drone capabilities essential, while critical upstream dependencies remain concentrated in China. Taiwan’s growing drone industry and Europe’s industrial capacity and access to capital offer complementary strengths, creating significant potential for closer alignment. Yet cooperation should extend beyond the assembly and procurement of complete UAVs. The most consequential vulnerabilities lie further upstream, including in batteries, motors, semiconductors, optical sensors, rare-earth materials, and other critical inputs. The chapter therefore argues for an EU–Taiwan approach focused on securing and diversifying these supply chains, including through technical exchanges, investment, business-to-business cooperation, and strategic stockpiling. Such cooperation can strengthen the resilience and scalability of both sides’ drone industrial bases while contributing to broader efforts to reduce strategic dependencies on China.
This chapter is an output of AIES Senior Research Fellow Ulf Steindl’s participation in the Taiwan-U.S. Policy Program (TUPP), including a research trip to Taiwan and draws on discussions and insights gathered during the programme.
