I found this in a Facebook group. It seems that the Taiwan 205th Armory (the same people who make the T91 rifle) is experimenting with arming drones. The T91 drone is equipped with a T91 rifle while the other is a 40mm armed drone with three grenade launchers.

We have seen armed drones before (e.g. Iraqi soldiers have been arming their drones with grenades even attaching shuttlecocks to grenades to help stabilize them as they fall). While it is a little lower tech, dropping grenades seems like a much easier solution than launching 40mm grenades or shooting a T91.

The following information comes from SETN.com.

The national army’s military capability was upgraded. The Defense Manufacturing Bureau’s manufacturing center displayed “armed drones” today. This drone can be equipped with a T91 rifle and can also be loaded with three 40mm grenade launchers, and capture net.  What amazing firepower! In the future, before the arrival of the vanguard of the National Army, you can suppress the first wave of attack.

The National Army’s 205 Factory stated that the design concept of this drone is to be able to suspend any weapon that can be carried by a soldier.  Currently, the testing has been completed for the T91 rifle, three 40mm grenade launchers, and a capture net.  The military mentioned that after an armed drone has lifted off, it can shoot the enemy in the air, and the capturing net can be used to intercept any suspicious drones.

The military mentioned that this drone will enable the attack range to be extended from the ground to the air, reducing direct face-to-face confrontations, reducing casualties, and carrying out preliminary firepower suppression for the attacking forces. However, it is still in the research and development stage, and have yet to conduct any tactical assessments.Recently, the Chinese military has been busy.  The National Defense Minister, Yen Teh-fa indicated plans to purchase the M1A2 tanks and hopes to achieve the military’s strategy of “winning by the sea and defeating the enemy on the beach”. Today, the national army has demonstrated the newly developed armed drones, showing their determination to defend Taiwan.

I question the effectiveness of guns mounted on quadcopter style drones. I guess it ultimately comes down to the programming for aiming the weapon on the drone, especially 40mm armed drones.   In the US we have seen some amateurs arming drones.  What do you think?