Lai Inspects Final Day of Jioupeng Drill as Chinese Recon Drone Shadows Exercise Off Taitung

President William Lai inspected the final day of the three-day joint precision-strike live-fire drill at Jioupeng Base in Pingtung County on September 18, 2026, which for the first time incorporated multiple types of attack drones — including ALTIUS-600M loitering munitions and Switchblade drones — into joint combat exercises alongside Tien Kung III surface-to-air missiles, Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles and US-made HIMARS launchers striking designated targets. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said a Chinese military drone flew from Taiwan's southwestern airspace to waters off Taitung County between 12:05 a.m. and 6 a.m. that morning to monitor the exercise; because the timing coincided with Lai's inspection, the military closely tracked the drone and deployed aircraft, naval vessels and land-based missile systems in response. Military sources said the navy's Chien Lung-class submarines would not fire torpedoes during this drill as earlier reported, with a separate torpedo exercise expected at a later date.