Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) will acquire a yet-unspecified quantity of autonomous surface vessels from US manufacturer Maritime Tactical Systems (Martac), the company announced on Tuesday, October 13.
MARTAC said the vessels will be co-produced. Some will be built at a strategic partner's facility in Edgewater, Florida, and the remainder will be built in Taiwan by local partner Confucian.
The company did not disclose the contract value, delivery schedule or production split.
"One of the most important reasons the Taiwan Government selected Martac was the company's willingness, from the very beginning, to establish co-production in Taiwan," said Confucian CEO James Lee. He described the order as the CGA's first unmanned surface vessel (USV) programme
The procurement follows a memorandum of understanding signed in 2025 by Martac, Confucian and Taiwan's state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST). The agreement covered USV research and development, marketing and co-manufacture.
Taiwanese newspaper Liberty Times reported that one of the vessels underwent sea trials at Taipei Port on October 7, including high- and low-speed runs and turns.
The vessel measures 8.4 metres in length and has a three-metre beam. Its maximum payload is 816 kilograms, and it can reach burst speeds exceeding 50 knots and travel up to 600 nautical miles in open water.
Martac said it can deploy smaller USVs and accommodate third-party aerial and underwater drones.
