Taiwan is developing at least two exploding “suicide drones” as it scrambles to counter an increasingly modern and aggressive Chinese military. A new suicide drone appeared at the August 2019 edition of the biennial Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition in the island country’s capital.
The unmanned aerial vehicle bears a strong resemblance to the small, hand-launched drones that are popular with U.S. forces. The other clearly draws inspiration from Israel’s Harpy anti-radar drone.
The Fire Cardinal is “an air to ground strike assault UAV,” according to information given at the show site.
The drone seeks out its target using an EO/IR payload and selects its target using an “intelligence object detection system.”
The 6kg drone is 1.2 meters long and 2 meters wide. Height is 0.6 meters. It includes an electro-optical and infrared sensor and selects its target using what Alert 5 described as an “intelligent object-detection system.”
Source: Alert5