MANASSAS, Va. — RapidFlight, an integrated aerospace design, development, and mass manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), has announced signing a memorandum of understanding with Thunder Tiger Group, a leader in the Taiwan drone industry focused on developing unmanned systems for industrial and defense applications. The companies will investigate utilizing 3D additive manufacturing of unmanned systems for Taiwan’s National Defense and other commercial applications.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has recently proposed spending roughly $175 million to acquire approximately 3,200 drones from private contractors over the next five years, according to The Wall Street Journal. The defense base in Taiwan will have to expand rapidly to meet that goal. Consistent with appropriate licensing and governmental approvals, this partnership will leverage RapidFlight’s extensive understanding of additive manufacturing for aerospace applications at the tactical edge and Thunder Tiger’s technological know-how to enhance the defense and commercial UAS capabilities within Taiwan.
Additive manufacturing can help reduce the storage footprint of drones by a factor of 10, at a lower cost of manufacture, while enabling a production line to quickly integrate new drone capabilities. It enables swapping out payloads, propulsion systems, communications, and other critical components to more readily fulfill the operational requirements or needs of the user. Thunder Tiger and RapidFlight envision bringing this capability to Taiwan in order to meet ever evolving defense and security needs. The partnership will also enable the Ministry of National Defense to explore RapidFlight’s customizable, scalable, and affordable autonomous aircraft manufacturing solutions.
About Thunder Tiger
Founded in 1979, Thunder Tiger is a Taiwanese publicly traded company specializing in unmanned vehicle systems, dental equipment, and remote-controlled vehicles. The company launched its unmanned vehicle systems division, TTROBOTIX, in 2015, supplying customers with UAV and ROV products. Focusing on developing mid- and large-sized UAVs and ROVs for industrial and defense uses, TTROBOTIX is a leader in the Taiwanese drone industry. For more information, visit www.thundertiger.com.
About RapidFlight
Based in Manassas, Virginia, RapidFlight is a design, technology, and manufacturing company capable of producing thousands of customized, low-cost, mission-ready, unmanned systems both centrally and at the tactical edge. The company’s advanced digital design and manufacturing processes, called AgileAviation, and experienced team of industry professionals are setting new standards in aircraft customization and mass manufacturing. RapidFlight addresses the dynamic challenges and stringent timelines critical to national security. For more details, visit www.rapidflight.aero.
