TSAMTO, April 28. On April 23, Taiwanese and French UAV manufacturers signed an agreement at the Taipei representative office in Paris on cooperation in the field of creating a reconnaissance UAV that can be assembled without using Chinese-made components.
On April 24, the head of GEOSAT Aerospace and Technology and the Association of Asian Innovation Centers, Lo Cheng-fan, announced on his Facebook page that his company had officially signed a contract with the French Cavok UAS for the joint development of a long-duration UAV with vertical takeoff and landing.
Lo Cheng-fan mentioned that Taiwan's "national UAV team" responds to national policy with concrete actions, and the first joint development project with France "will undoubtedly mark the beginning of the far-reaching development of the UAV industry in Taiwan and France." According to Lo, the joint development of solutions will also allow Taiwanese-designed UAVs to enter the international market faster.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Taiwan's representative Francois Wu said that since the situation in the Taiwan Strait is facing a growing likelihood of a military invasion by the PLA, the "Taiwan problem" is becoming urgent in France, and French public opinion supports Taiwan. According to F.Wu, the position of the French Government regarding the support of stability and peace in the Taiwan Strait remains unchanged.
F.Wu stressed that in connection with the visit to Taiwan on April 17 by the delegation of the lower house of the French Parliament, headed by the chairman of the friendship group with Taiwan of the French National Assembly Eric Botorel, relations between Taiwan and France continue to strengthen. The cooperation agreement signed on April 23 is "another indication that Taiwan and France have taken steps towards close cooperation in strategic sectors."
According to the Taiwanese specialist, the long-duration UAV, which will be jointly developed by GEOSAT Aerospace and Technology and Cavok UAS, received the designation CK50-T. It will be used to strengthen the capabilities of exploration on land and at sea. From the point of view of technical capabilities, the UAV is a conventional long-duration flight platform with the possibility of automatic vertical takeoff and landing. The most important thing is that the CK50-T will 100% eliminate the need for supplies from China.
Thus, analyzing Beijing's position on the conflict in Ukraine, European companies are increasingly boldly moving to cooperation with Taipei, including in the military sphere. If earlier, fearing China's reaction, European countries refrained from selling weapons to the island state, then the further absence of a retaliatory "show of force" by the Chinese authorities could lead to a significant expansion of the flow of weapons and military technology to Taiwan.
