Taiwan has set aside a big chunk of new money to buy attack drones and suicide boats, a boost for its defense plans but one that now hangs on a slow-moving legislature.

• The cabinet's extra defense budget includes NT$55.9 billion for three types of military drones and unmanned boats.
• The shopping list covers hundreds of coastal surveillance drones, tens of thousands of coastal attack drones, and the first hundred-plus small suicide boats.
• A new law calls for NT$240 billion over six years to build up Taiwan's own drone industry, with the economy ministry in charge and defense handling military purchases.
• The drone money alone already tops the law's NT$40 billion-a-year guideline, and lawmakers can add more if needed.
• If the legislature does not pass the extra budget before the year ends, the whole package dies.

Outlook: Year-end local elections will crowd the legislative calendar, so the first batch of drones and boats could easily slip past next year.