Taiwan’s Coast Guard buys US Devil Ray T24 unmanned boats from MARTAC, with co-production on the island

Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) will procure US Devil Ray T24 autonomous surface vessels, the manufacturer Maritime Tactical Systems (MARTAC) announced on Tuesday, October 13. The number of vessels has not been disclosed, nor has the value of the contract, the delivery schedule or the split of production, according to Baird Maritime.

Co-production in Taiwan

According to the company, the vessels will be built under co-production. Some will be built at a strategic partner’s facility in Edgewater, Florida, and the rest in Taiwan by the local company Confucian. The purchase follows a memorandum of cooperation signed in 2025 by MARTAC, Confucian and the state-run Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) for research, development, promotion and joint manufacture of unmanned vessels.

“One of the most important reasons the Taiwanese government chose MARTAC was the company’s willingness, from the start, to establish co-production in Taiwan,” said Confucian CEO James Lee. He said this is the Coast Guard’s first unmanned surface vessel (USV) programme. Confucian said that the localisation model gives Taiwan the chance to develop domestic capabilities and was decisive in securing government support.

According to Maritime Executive, Seamus Flatley, the US company’s head of development, said: “This selection by the Taiwan Coast Guard is a milestone for MARTAC and for the adoption of unmanned surface vessels in the Indo-Pacific region.” MARTAC describes the deal as one of the most significant sales of a US USV manufacturer abroad.

The T24

The T24 is 8.4 metres long and three metres wide. Its maximum payload is 816 kilograms, and it can briefly exceed 50 knots and travel up to 600 nautical miles in open sea. The company says it can carry and launch smaller USVs, as well as aerial and underwater drones from third-party manufacturers.

The Taiwanese newspaper Liberty Times wrote that one of the vessels was tested at sea in Taipei harbour on October 7, with high- and low-speed runs and turns.

Context

Taiwan’s Coast Guard is a civilian law enforcement agency, under the Ocean Affairs Council, and is not part of the armed forces. The purchase comes while approval by the Trump administration of a $14 billion military sales package for Taipei is pending. The government of Lai Ching-te has put defence at the centre of its policy, as was also evident in his National Day speech, while the air force recently received its first F-16V Block 70 aircraft.