Taiwan's plan to fast-track military drone purchases is stuck in a legislative fight, and the delay is bad news for the island's defense readiness and its budding drone industry.

• Opposition parties want the drone procurement law run by the Economics Ministry instead of the Defense Ministry, and want the money folded back into the regular annual budget.
• DPP lawmaker Wang Ting-yu called that as absurd as making the environment agency buy guns for the police.
• The KMT version would cap spending at NT$40 billion a year, which the Defense Ministry says falls short of what is actually needed.
• Killing the multi-year special budget removes the steady stream of orders manufacturers need before they will invest in factories and research.
• The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East pushed the U.S., Europe, and Japan to pour money into drones, while Taiwan faces a much closer threat from China.

Outlook: Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu will convene further talks, but with the parties this far apart, Taiwan's drone buildup looks set to slip.