Taiwan is fighting over how to fund its homegrown drone industry, and the outcome will decide whether local suppliers survive or the country keeps buying foreign parts.

• Lawmakers meet Wednesday to hash out a defense bill that would spend NT$210 billion on locally made drones.
• The ruling party wants one big multi-year budget; the opposition wants to approve money year by year.
• Drone makers say yearly funding is fatal — banks won't lend, suppliers won't invest, and engineers leave.
• Building a drone line takes 18 to 24 months from contract to steady production, longer than a single budget cycle.
• Industry figures want at least five years of guaranteed orders and want Taiwan's standards matched to international rules so it can co-produce with the US.

Outlook: Leaders are pushing to pass the bill this week, but the funding structure remains the sticking point.