Taiwan drone procurement bill: defense minister says KMT's NT$40 billion a year falls short

Aug 26, 2026

Taiwan's parliament is fighting over how to fund homegrown drones, and the defense ministry says the opposition's plan sounds big but would not even cover military purchases.

  • The KMT bill sets aside NT$40 billion a year for six years — NT$240 billion total — for unmanned vehicles.
  • Defense Minister Wellington Koo says the bill defines drones so broadly, covering air, sea, underwater and ground machines, that the money runs out fast.
  • Next year's already-approved budget alone puts NT$31.1 billion into drones, including MQ-9B aircraft bought from the US.
  • Koo wants the defense ministry, not the economics ministry, in charge of anything military, and the cabinet's rival plan limits spending to three specific sea-drone types.
  • The economics ministry says industry support laws already exist and what drone makers really need is steady orders, not another special law.

Outlook: With more than a dozen competing versions on the table, expect drawn-out bargaining over who controls the money and how wide the drone definition goes.

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