A former senior Pentagon official for Indo-Pacific policy told a Taipei security forum that Taiwan's new drone spending is a good start but far short of what deterrence needs — a warning aimed at lawmakers still fighting over the money.

• Jedidiah Royal, until recently the top US defense policy official for the region, called Taiwan's NT$240 billion drone package "a single, not a home run" and pushed the legislature to go bigger.
• Two clocks are running: the threat clock, set by Xi Jinping's 2027, 2035 and 2049 timelines and the military drills circling Taiwan, and the delivery clock, which buys time back by getting weapons built.
• Taiwan's existing stock of conventional weapons will not be enough over time as China fields faster, smarter, longer-range systems.
• The political fight over the drone bill has cost Taiwan time and market share, just as it could become a major non-China drone supplier for the world.
• Taiwan's combat readiness has genuinely improved over five years, but training ranges, mobilization rules, and joint operations between services still lag.

Outlook: Pressure will build on Taiwan's legislature to pass a much larger defense budget, with drone production the main test of whether it happens fast enough.