Taiwan passes NT$240 billion drone and defense industry law
Taiwan's legislature has approved a six-year drone spending law, a win for local defense makers but a fresh budget headache for the Cabinet.
- Lawmakers passed a bill committing the government to spend NT$240 billion over six years — about NT$40 billion a year — on drones and unmanned systems.
- The Cabinet has not formally received the bill yet and says it will check whether the plan fits Taiwan's defense needs before signing off.
- The money is expected to be squeezed into a supplementary budget for this year, with a Cabinet meeting on it in early September.
- Next year's main budget was already finished without the drone money, so the Cabinet will have to file an amendment alongside it.
- Other weapons programs left out of earlier special budgets, including the Strong Bow missile, are also set to land in the same supplementary bill.
Outlook: Expect the Cabinet to sign the law and push a supplementary budget in September, with the spending fight moving back to the legislature.