Following up on the previous article, this piece focuses on Texas, where the state has long offered attractive incentives to lure high-tech industries. Now, Texas is extending its reach to defense sectors, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and counter-UAS (C-UAS) autonomous systems.

Amid surging demand from low-Earth orbit satellites, aerospace, and defense, Parpro Corporation expects a sharp acceleration in core business growth in 2026, supported by a maturing North American manufacturing footprint. The company forecasts that full-year profits could rise from prior years, with gross margins holding near 20%.

The 2026 International Symposium on VLSI Technology, Systems and Applications (VLSI TSA) kicked off on April 14, gathering over 800 semiconductor professionals worldwide. The conference focused on next-generation core areas including GenAI inference acceleration, wafer-level computing, and terahertz wireless communication, while also delving into quantum computer system architectures and extending the reach of semiconductors to AI-driven cardiac analysis and other smart healthcare applications.

Google is in talks with the US Department of Defense that would allow the Pentagon to use the company's Gemini AI models for classified purposes, according to The Information. If the deal comes to fruition, it could represent a deepening of ties between Google and the Pentagon, which is seeking AI partners after its falling out with Anthropic in recent months.

Taiwanese drone manufacturer Thunder Tiger Group is developing a domestic version of the Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, modeled on systems deployed by the US in recent conflicts, as it seeks to build a cost advantage through manufacturing scale.

To strengthen communications resilience, Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) is promoting a high-altitude platform station (HAPS) project. The initiative uses domestically produced drones as carriers integrated with communication systems to create an aerial communications platform featuring long endurance and high payload capacity. The program aims to begin testing with telecommunications operators in the third quarter of 2026, with plans to publicly showcase its achievements in October.

Industrial PC (IPC) maker Sysgration saw consolidated revenue reach NT$292 million (US$9.2 million) in March 2026, buoyed by its three main product lines of backup battery units (BBUs), drones, and IPCs. Although this marks a slight year-on-year decline, the company nevertheless expects monthly revenue to grow going ahead, driven by an optimized product mix and increasing high-margin applications, as demand for AI computing drives expansion in data centers and edge AI deployments.

Taiwan has partnered with a major French drone manufacturer to build a secure and trusted supply chain network. Taiwan's Metal Industries Research and Development Center (MIRDC) announced it will collaborate with the French drone company on supply chains, key technology deployment, and market expansion — and a preliminary consensus has already been reached.

As the smart glasses market grows rapidly, the adoption of Micro LED in AI-powered eyewear is accelerating. PlayNitride has partnered with AR glasses maker ChaseWind to develop a full-color, high-resolution Micro LED AI smart glasses product, which is expected to be deployed in industrial control and drone applications. Meanwhile, its Tantium chips targeting wearable devices and automotive displays, launched in 2025, have entered the mass production phase and are set to begin order-based production in 2026.

Taiwan and the United States have rapidly advanced industrial technology cooperation across sectors, from drones to robotics, in recent years. The GeoAsia Foundation recently announced a strategic alliance with Curiosity Lab, an innovation park in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, to establish the Taiwan Robotics Hub in the US city. This initiative aims to leverage bilateral industry strengths to advance AI and robotics technologies and foster a robust Taiwan-US robotics ecosystem.

Taiwanese companies are accelerating efforts to enter Poland's fast-growing drone supply chain, as the Eastern European country emerges as a hub for defense procurement and a gateway to Ukraine amid rising geopolitical tensions.

Amid sustained Middle East tensions, the US is redirecting strategic attention to the Indo-Pacific region, advancing a defense industrial network among first island chain partners. Through the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR), Washington is spearheading a shift toward localized production and allied coordination to effectively decouple regional defense networks from Chinese supply chains.

The "brain" of a drone plays a critical role in flight missions. While Taiwanese manufacturers have advantages in drone hardware production, integrating the core control systems remains a challenge.

Facing drought conditions, Taiwan's government has mobilized the air force and drones to conduct cloud seeding operations near the area over the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park, a center of Taiwan's tech industry.

The drone industry is no longer a niche corner of the defense world — it has become a full-blown industrial race. Across the US, states are competing to attract manufacturers, research centers, and defense contractors as autonomous aerial systems move from battlefield applications toward broader commercial use. The stakes are significant: drone production corridors bring high-wage jobs, federal research dollars, and long-term anchor tenants in the form of defense primes and tech startups alike. Yet beneath the headline investments lies a more nuanced picture.

KingRay Technology, backed by Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs Industrial Development Bureau, participated in Germany's XPONENTIAL Europe 2026 under the Taiwan Pavilion to showcase its imaging and AI recognition solutions for military, police, and civilian unmanned vehicles, and to expand into international markets.

At a series of year-end gatherings in Hsinchu and Taipei this week, Star Fusion and its affiliated companies outlined their business outlook for 2026, pointing to a shift toward higher-value chip design as a key growth driver.

As countries worldwide actively develop their drone industries and build autonomous supply chains, Taiwan's progress remains stalled. In a statement issued on March 22, Taiwan's Executive Yuan stated that drones are critical to the strategic deployment of democratic supply chains and to the military capabilities of the armed forces, urging the Legislative Yuan to expedite the review and approval of relevant budgets.

Non-China supply chains in the drone sector are emerging as a new battleground for global technology vendors, with Taiwan's chipmakers increasingly expanding into the space. Among the various segments, imaging-related technologies have drawn the most intense competition.

Imaging technologies are expanding beyond time-lapse photography and consumer applications into higher-barrier military uses as the industry repositions in the post-pandemic era.

China's leading consumer drone maker, DJI, has formally filed suit against rival Insta360, alleging disputes over ownership of six patents. The case, which also implicates several former core DJI research engineers, has been accepted by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court.

Competition in China's action camera and drone markets is intensifying, as DJI has filed a lawsuit against rival Insta360, marking a sharp escalation in a rivalry that had already been spilling across product lines.

Taiwanese drone maker Thunder Tiger signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) on March 16. The agreement centers on joint drone research, technology exchanges, education and training, and autonomous flight testing. Together, the two aim to advance the Taiwan-US non-Chinese drone supply chain ecosystem.

Drones are rapidly transforming modern warfare, offering relatively low-cost alternatives to traditional weapons while driving changes across defense supply chains. Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), often costing only a few thousand dollars, are now capable of striking targets hundreds of kilometers away, including armored vehicles, ships, and air defense systems.