The Taiwan military's main weapons development institute displayed three robot patrol dogs on Tuesday that could eventually operate on Taiwan's islands in the disputed South China Sea.

Democratically governed Taiwan, viewed by Beijing as its territory, has been updating its armed forces to strengthen deterrence against China, with drones forming a central priority for the defense ministry.

At a ministry media event, the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology presented three variants of a robot dog made by Ghost Robotics, a leading US supplier of four-legged military robots.

The institute has added its own systems to the robots for reconnaissance, surveillance, and firepower roles, the last of which features a mounted gun.

Jen Kuo-kuang, deputy head of the institute's missile and rocket systems research division, said the military has signaled interest in such equipment, though no formal order has been placed.

Taiwanese military seeks means and methods to defend and deter China

In fact, the marines see an urgent need for the robots on beaches and coastlines, including for coast guard patrols and inspections in Nansha and Dongsha, he said, referring to the Spratly and Pratas Islands in the South China Sea.

Taiwan controls one major island in the Spratlys, Itu Aba, and holds all of the Pratas, which sit at the northern end of the South China Sea and fall under coast guard defense in peacetime. The islands have no civilian population beyond the coast guard presence.

China and Taiwan both claim large portions of the South China Sea, though Chinese forces generally avoid Itu Aba.

Taiwan has nevertheless reported growing numbers of Chinese coast guard patrols and drones near the Pratas.