Developing Taiwan’s Drone Ecosystem: A Conversation with Shield AI’s Brandon Tseng

Drones are at the center of the global defense conversation — and nowhere is that more strategically consequential than Taiwan. Lai Ching-te’s administration has made drone production a national priority, committing roughly $3 billion USD to building out a domestic ecosystem, with more investment expected. Taiwan understands that resilient, non-red supply chains and scalable autonomous systems are essential to deterrence. Today we’re joined by Brandon Tseng, Co-Founder and President of Shield AI, an American aerospace and defense technology company. Brandon previously served seven years in the U.S. Navy as both a Navy SEAL and a Surface Warfare Officer. He deployed twice to Afghanistan, as well as to the Pacific Theater and the Arabian Gulf. It was during those deployments that he saw firsthand the risks service members face in complex combat environments — experiences that ultimately led him to found Shield AI, with the mission of protecting service members and civilians through intelligent, autonomous systems. Shield AI recently signed a teaming agreement with Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), a Taiwanese aerospace company based in Taichung, marking an important step in deepening cooperation on trusted drone production and autonomous capabilities. In today’s episode we’ll explore what it takes to build secure drone supply chains, how Taiwan’s coast guard and navy fit into the evolving deterrence picture, and what the next era of autonomous warfare looks like in the Taiwan Strait. This episode was created in partnership with NOWNEWS, through its English-language platform Taiwan Current News (https://www.tcn.tw/). Timestamps: [00:00] Introduction [02:22] Taiwan in Defense Technology Supply Chains  [03:40] Overview of Shield AI’s Capabilities  [05:40] Taiwan’s Deterrence Strength Then and Now [07:09] Lessons Learned from Ukraine for Taiwan [11:07] Achieving Non-Red Supply Chains  [13:11] Developing Taiwan’s Drone Supply Chain [16:58] Evolving Counter Drone Capabilities in China and Taiwan [19:20] How Drones Address Grey-Zone Threats [22:21] Assessing Taiwan’s Military Operational System Readiness  [27:09] Challenges to Overcome for Taiwan [30:07] Insights into China’s Drone Industry [32:15] Drone Usage in a Blockade Scenario [35:21] Shield AI Delivery Capabilities