The Presidential Office of Taiwan announced the official launch of the Presidential Cup 2026 Drone Competition during a press conference on July 28, 2026. Secretary-General to the President Pan Men-an stated that the competition focuses on the themes of democratic alliance and non-red supply chains, aiming to cultivate technology application talent. Official rules explicitly state that any equipment or products linked to the red supply chain are disqualified from participating in the event.
According to the Presidential Office, President Lai Ching-te instructed in the second half of 2024 to utilize drones to drive domestic industry growth. Following more than a year of cross-departmental coordination, the project referenced the United States Green UAS (Green Unmanned Aircraft Systems) standards to construct a non-red drone supply chain, encouraging joint participation across industry, government, academia, and research sectors.
Regarding specific competition categories, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will organize obstacle flight challenges, including drone block stacking, drone obstacle avoidance, and drone precision dropping. The Ministry of Education will host drone soccer competitions to promote drone operation beginning at the elementary school level, while the National Science and Technology Council will plan a key technology challenge.
For competition schedules, registration for the events hosted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs opened on July 28, 2026, and will remain open through August 31. The final rounds are scheduled to take place on December 25 at the International Convention Center Tainan. Detailed contest schedules and regulations have been published on the respective websites of the participating government agencies.
To ensure supply chain compliance for participating equipment, a dedicated verification mechanism will be jointly established by the National Science and Technology Council, the Industrial Technology Research Institute, and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology. The Administration of Industrial Development under the Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that verification involves a three-stage review process. Additionally, the event will feature four major exhibition areas covering defense capabilities, application services, industrial capacity, and academic-research achievements.
