The Government of Taiwan proposed today a new defense package worth 210 billion New Taiwan dollars (€5.7 billion) to acquire military drones and unmanned surface vessels.
The new budget, which provides funding between August of this year and the end of 2031, contemplates the phased acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) for surveillance and reconnaissance, coastal attack drones, and small unmanned suicide boats, among other equipment.
In a press conference cited by the CNA news agency, Executive Yuan (Government) spokesperson Michelle Lee stated that the Ministry of National Defense actively monitors emerging technology trends in the field of “asymmetric warfare,” justifying the submission of the proposal.
According to the official, Premier Cho Jung-tai stated during the executive’s latest meeting that Taiwan urgently needs to integrate into “non-red” global supply chains—meaning those not dependent on China—and to strengthen its own production capacity to ensure local supply, domestic manufacturing, and autonomous maintenance of drones.
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Cho added that expanding the domestic industrial chain will help ensure defense autonomy and preserve both the combat readiness of the Armed Forces and defensive resilience during the transition “from peace to war.”
The announcement comes a month and a half after parliament approved another special defense package, worth 780 billion New Taiwan dollars (€21.4 billion), which excluded the purchase of drones and other locally produced equipment.
The funds, approved with the support of the two main opposition parties—the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP)—represented less than two-thirds of the amount initially proposed by the executive, which had presented a plan of 1.25 trillion New Taiwan dollars (€34.3 billion) late last year.
Taiwanese President William Lai announced on Tuesday that his government “would not surrender” and would present a new special budget to guarantee the island’s “self-sufficiency” in defense matters.
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Beijing considers Taiwan an integral part of Chinese territory and does not rule out the use of force to bring the island under its control. Since Lai took office in May 2024, China has intensified military and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan.
