Taiwan Debuts Automated 70 mm Rapid-Fire Rocket Turret to Counter UAVs.

Taiwan’s NCSIST unveiled a 2.75-inch (70 mm) Rocket Turret Vehicle at TADTE 2025 in Taipei, pairing an EO/IR sensor with a seven-tube launcher. Built for Coast Guard missions against UAVs and small surface threats, it supports multiple warheads and radar cueing for rapid engagements.

Taiwan’s Military News Agency confirmed that NCSIST unveiled a 2.75-inch Rocket Turret Vehicle at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE) on September 18, 2025, in Taipei. The system integrates an electro-optical targeting unit with a seven-tube 70 mm rocket turret, supports multiple warhead types (HE, steel-ball, acoustic/flash), and can accept radar cueing for rapid engagement; Janes adds it is intended for the Coast Guard to counter UAVs and surface threats and notes an order was placed. The update matters as coastal security agencies look for affordable, mobile counter-UAV/USV options for busy harbors and straits.
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The system combines a 70 mm rocket turret with a day-night electro-optical sensor integrating a camera, thermal imaging, and a laser rangefinder. (Picture source: Taiwan Military News Agency)

The system combines a 70 mm rocket turret with a day-night electro-optical sensor integrating a camera, thermal imaging, and a laser rangefinder. It was presented as a “move while surveilling, stop, then fire immediately” solution, intended to take position at suitable or concealed locations depending on the situation and to resume movement as soon as the engagement sequence is complete. Once a target is optically locked, the fire control computer computes the ballistic solution and can, when required, receive an external designation from a radar to enable backup tracking and gun-laid firing. Emphasis is placed on first-line service along the coastline, where the Coast Guard and joint units need a responsive tool that is simple to operate and robust enough for repeated use.

On the hardware side, the turret carries 2.75-inch rockets in a well-known caliber, traditionally fired from aircraft but widely adapted to ground launchers. NCSIST indicates three available terminal effects: a high-explosive warhead, a steel-ball fragmentation warhead for dense fragment patterns, and a so-called sonic warhead designed to deliver a very intense pressure impulse at short range. This set shows the intended flexibility. It is not a single munition meant to cover every case, but a modular set that aligns the effect with the target type, from a light quadcopter to a fast surface craft. The digital core performs the firing calculations as soon as the sight has locked the target. In practice, this reduces hesitation at the critical moment, when the operator must keep a small signature in frame that sometimes occupies only a few pixels against water or infrastructure.

The electro-optical block is central. A daylight camera, thermal imaging, and a laser rangefinder provide detection and identification at very short and short ranges, where longer-range radars face heavy clutter, especially over water. The ability to receive a track from a third-party radar and confirm it optically adds flexibility. A coastal section can be pointed toward a sector before the target is in the sight picture, then refine orientation and engage without delay. The sensor-to-sensor handoff is important because it limits ammunition expenditure and reduces identification errors. In this segment, cost control depends more on the architecture than on a single transformative munition.

The overall ergonomics are designed for simple maneuver. The vehicle patrols, observes, then halts for a few seconds to fire. The sequence is kept short. Firing from a semi-covered position, or using remote operation, reduces crew exposure, which is relevant if the adversary employs booby-trapped drones or attempts opportunistic fire after detecting the launch flash. The stop-and-shoot profile fits fluid coastal incidents, where a micro-USV may cross an exclusion line within tens of seconds and a quadcopter may emerge from port backgrounds without warning. Standardizing the 70 mm caliber, already produced on multiple lines, provides access to proximity fuzes and effect settings that ease sustainment while keeping the cost per shot below that of a conventional surface-to-air missile.

Tactical use is straightforward. In a port, on a jetty, or at an energy terminal, the team can maintain mobile surveillance, then move to a blind angle where optics work better than radar. If a higher-level network raises an alert, the turret trains to the transmitted bearing, gains optical lock, and the fire control computes. Against a small cluster of multicopters, a steel-ball load offers the best fragment density. For a more robust surface craft, the high-explosive option increases the probability of stopping the target. The sonic load is intended for very short-range overpressure effects on fragile targets that do not tolerate a sharp impulse. The crew focuses on sight discipline, positive identification, and tempo management rather than complex firing procedures.

The decision to align this system with the Coast Guard, or at least to orient it toward coastal missions, reflects specific geography and operational conditions. Fixed defenses cover very low altitudes and congested channels poorly, and they are expensive to maintain on continuous alert. A wheeled launcher that connects to radar networks while remaining able to identify and fire by sight addresses this gap. It absorbs routine intrusions, frees scarcer resources, and preserves freedom of action in areas with dense civilian activity. Repeated interventions require durable equipment that tolerates weather and has modest support needs. This is the space of employment targeted by the turret.

The strategic environment explains the timing and presentation. Air and maritime activity around the Strait has intensified, with regular use of unmanned systems that drive Taiwan to multiply interception points and local response capacity. The chosen approach is consistent with an asymmetric strategy based on mobility, dispersion, and financial sustainment. It is not intended to replace higher tiers of air defense. It is intended to maintain continuity around key infrastructure, preserve more expensive interceptors for threats only they can handle, and make day-to-day pressure more manageable. Shown at a trade fair that features both prototypes and deployable systems, the NCSIST 2.75-inch turret appears as a pragmatic response to now common scenarios. It fits into an existing network of sensors and firing procedures, which can accelerate adoption. If low-cost threats persist, the logic of volume at lower cost per shot remains relevant.