Taiwan Coast Guard Administration acquires V-BAT

The Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA) will employ the V-BAT as a ship-based capability to provide persistent maritime domain awareness. This image shows a V-BAT displayed at the Dubai Airshow 2025. (Janes/Raghuraman C S)

Shield AI has announced the delivery of its first V-BAT aircraft unmanned aerial system (UAS) to Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA).

Working with its Taiwan-based partner, Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), Shield AI will deliver 12 V-BATs to the CGA in the coming months, the company said on 13 October.

According to Shield AI and AIDC, the CGA competitively selected the V-BAT under its ‘Shipborne UAV' programme. Neither the CGA nor the companies have disclosed the contract value or the total number of aircraft to be acquired.

The V-BAT is a Group 3 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAS featuring a ducted-fan design, more than 12 hours of endurance, and a heavy-fuel engine, Shield AI said.

According to the company, the UAS was designed and tested for operations in contested electronic warfare (EW) environments while providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and targeting capabilities.

“The CGA will utilise V-BAT as a ship-based capability to maintain persistent maritime domain awareness (MDA) for surveillance, coastal patrols, and law-enforcement operations,” Shield AI said.

According to Brandon Tseng, Shield AI president and co-founder, the V-BAT will provide the CGA with the “maritime domain awareness and intelligence picture needed across the Taiwan Strait and its maritime borders”.

Shield AI said it will train coast guard operators and maintenance personnel while establishing a localised V-BAT support system in partnership with AIDC.