Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST)
- Origin / production countries
- Taiwan
- Other names
- Albatross I; Chung Shyang; Chung-Shiang
- Variants / configurations
- Original Albatross tactical system; Albatross II is recorded separately
- Operators / programme customers
- Taiwan military exercise use documented by NCSIST; exact current service allocation not established
Evidence & current status
Military exercise use is documented by the developer. Published numbers refer to the earlier Albatross brochure, not the successor.
Albatross is the tactical surveillance aircraft associated with NCSIST's Chung Shyang programme. Its brochure describes day-and-night reconnaissance, coastal observation and communications relay, with civilian monitoring and disaster assessment among additional applications. NCSIST's fleet page records participation by the tactical aircraft in Taiwan's military exercises and describes delivery of imagery to ground control.
The older public brochure provides a useful baseline: cruise speed of 60 knots, endurance greater than ten hours, ceiling above 13,000 feet and a payload figure above 100 pounds. Those values belong to the brochure's aircraft and should not be substituted for the later Albatross II. The sensor and mission-system configuration can also differ between military and civil use.
This entry preserves the earlier tactical family as a distinct record rather than replacing its history with a successor's specification. Exercise participation establishes documented use, while current fleet size, service allocation and upgrade fit remain separate questions. A future operator update should identify exactly which Albatross generation and aircraft configuration it concerns before changing the profile's data.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Tactical fixed-wing UAV | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | More than 10 hours | Legacy brochure baseline, not Albatross II. Source ↗ |
| Range | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
| Speed | 60 knots cruise | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | Above 13,000 ft | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Payload | More than 100 lb | Legacy brochure rating; not a payload plus maximum-endurance guarantee. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Day and night surveillance | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Ground control and imagery/data relay | Supplier-published figure; configuration and operating conditions affect performance. Source ↗ |
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.