Taiwan is developing an AI-powered system to coordinate drone fleets for maritime surveillance and countering “grey-zone” activities, with researchers completing a simulation involving 20 aircraft, according to the island’s Ocean Affairs Council.
The system, which is funded by the council, would allow different types of drones to autonomously divide tasks, plan routes and coordinate their movements while providing wide-area, persistent surveillance for coastguard operations.
The council said on Monday that a research team led by Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University had completed simultaneous flight simulations involving two fleets comprising 20 drones, marking a shift from controlling individual aircraft to coordinating multiple groups.
The early-stage project focuses on three US-made vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fixed-wing drones – the JUMP 20, V-BAT and Flexrotor – and integrates artificial intelligence (AI), flight dynamics and swarm-control technologies.