Taiwan tests US-made MQ-9B drones to counter PLA 'grey-zone' operations

Taiwan began flight testing the first two of four U.S.-made MQ-9B uncrewed aircraft at Hualien Air Base on September 14. The two aircraft were formally handed over in the United States in March, arrived in Taiwan by sea in June and underwent nearly three months of assembly, ground testing and preparation before their first local flights. The MQ-9Bs will provide long-endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance coverage of Chinese military and grey-zone activity around the island. The remaining two aircraft are part of the same order and are expected in a second delivery batch.