Taiwan teams up with US start-up on underwater drones to boost island’s defences

Taiwan has signed a deal with US defence start-up Vatn Systems to develop autonomous underwater vehicles and strengthen its asymmetric warfare capabilities amid growing military pressure from Beijing.

The agreement with the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) – the island’s government-funded top weapons developer – is the latest in a series of moves to expand Taiwan’s unmanned underwater capabilities.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed last week, NCSIST and...