Taiwan's Legislative Yuan has passed next year's central government general budget, requiring that the NT$44.2 billion drone development programme be funded in equal annual installments—positive news for the domestic drone industry and the national defence supply chain.

• The Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of the 2026 central government general budget, with total expenditure of around NT$3 trillion and final cuts of about NT$48 billion.

• The Executive Yuan's six-year, NT$44.2 billion "Unmanned Vehicle Industry Development Coordinated Programme" was retained in full, aiming to drive output value past NT$40 billion by 2030.

• The Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) put forward a principal resolution requiring the Ministry of Economic Affairs to spread the NT$44.2 billion evenly over six years, with no single year exceeding the average, so as to avoid large fluctuations in funding.

• This NT$44.2 billion, together with a further NT$19.2 billion in procurement budget allocated separately by various ministries, adds up to NT$63.4 billion, all of which was passed and exempted from the across-the-board 1.5% cut applied to the general budget.

• The resolution also requires non-military drone procurement to go through common supply contracts, in order to prevent duplicate budgeting or the re-subcontracting of turnkey deals to evade oversight.

Outlook: With the programme now set for steady, phased investment, the coming years will focus on research and development, production, procurement, and talent cultivation, gradually building Taiwan into a hub of the democratic drone supply chain.