The Executive Yuan of the Republic of China is set to pass the annual supplementary budget for the year 115 (2026) today, which includes defense enhancements such as the procurement of weapons to boost defense capabilities. This procurement comprises maritime surveillance drones, attack drones, the initial batch of small unmanned surface vessels, and medium-range anti-tactical ballistic missiles.
The Executive Yuan approved the “115 Central Government General Budget Supplementary Budget” compiled by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics today. Premier Su Tseng-chang pointed out that after facing challenges, the central government’s general budget for the year 115 finally passed the third reading in the Legislative Yuan on August 14. However, due to the need for additional funding for public stability measures in response to the Middle East conflicts, increased social welfare subsidies, salary adjustments for military and civil servants, defense capability enhancement through weapon procurement, and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, a supplementary budget proposal has been put forward.
The approved supplementary budget amounts to 607.63 billion New Taiwan Dollars (NTD) and will be allocated towards stabilizing livelihoods, enhancing social welfare, improving benefits, post-disaster reconstruction, strengthening defense capabilities, and initiating child and youth development allowances in six different aspects.
Regarding the “strengthening defense capabilities,” Premier Su Tseng-chang stated that the budget allocation of 145.7 billion NTD is earmarked for weapon acquisition and combat unit benefits to enhance defense operations. He explained that although the Executive Yuan initially proposed a special act for the procurement of defense resilience and asymmetric combat capabilities amounting to 1.25 trillion NTD over eight years, the Legislative Yuan only approved a portion related to purchasing from the United States, slashing 470 billion NTD. As defense cannot afford any gaps, plans like the medium-range anti-tactical ballistic missile system and ammunition setup originally included in the special act have been incorporated into this supplementary budget.
According to data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, the defense enhancement portion includes a total allocation of 145.7 billion NTD, covering seven items totaling 130 billion NTD for systems like the medium-range anti-tactical ballistic missiles, three items totaling 559 billion NTD for maritime surveillance drones, two classified programs totaling 645 billion NTD, emergency replenishment of ammunition amounting to 7.3 billion NTD, a 9 billion NTD budget for Taiwan’s tactical network cross-domain intelligence integration project, 25 billion NTD for the growth in military recruitment, and 16 billion NTD for increasing combat unit benefits.
Premier Su Tseng-chang emphasized that “national security cannot wait, defense budgets cannot wait, and defense self-reliance cannot wait.” He hopes that by strengthening defense capabilities, it will stimulate the domestic unmanned aerial vehicle industry, drive related technological investments, establish the necessary technological capabilities to build a non-red supply chain, meet the unmanned aerial vehicle requirements of the armed forces, and enhance the strategic objective of national defense self-reliance. Additionally, to support military recruitment and the necessary funds for increasing combat unit benefits, these expenses have also been included in the supplementary budget to bolster national security.
He stressed that there are only a little over three months left in the year 115 to ensure prompt implementation of various governance projects. He urged all responsible authorities to cooperate with the Legislative Yuan’s review schedule, actively communicate and coordinate with the Legislative Yuan, strengthen external discourse and explanations, garner support from all sectors, and prepare all necessary administrative measures. He further appealed to the ruling and opposition parties in the Legislative Yuan, urging them to uphold rational review. Both the executive and legislative branches, along with the people, should work together to take care of livelihoods, protect vulnerable groups, assist military and civil servants with salary increases, and enhance national defense security self-reliance.
Following the Executive Yuan meeting, spokesperson Li Hui-chih held a press conference, in which Director of Strategic Planning at the Ministry of National Defense Huang Wen-chi elaborated on the defense-related supplementary budget. Initially, the budget ceiling for the special act to strengthen defense resilience and asymmetric combat capabilities was set at 1.25 trillion NTD for a total of 23 projects. Since not all projects were approved, the 13 commissioned and commercial procurement projects, as well as weapons and equipment projects developed through Taiwan-US cooperation, have all been included in this supplementary budget.
Huang Wen-chi explained that the supplementary budget proposal is primarily based on the military construction schedule. As the unmanned aerial vehicle units have been gradually established since last year, with all units positioned after January of this year, what is lacking are unmanned systems like maritime surveillance drones, maritime attack drones, and unmanned surface vessels.
In terms of the schedule, it is expected that the procurement for maritime surveillance and attack drones will commence this year, along with the initial procurement operations for unmanned surface vessels. Subsequently, in the year 116, the initial combat capabilities of units using maritime surveillance and attack drones will be established. By the end of 116, the aim is to meet the basic stockpile requirements for unmanned aerial vehicle units, with gradual yearly increases according to annual defense needs.
Moreover, Huang Wen-chi mentioned that since last year’s business briefing, businesses have been waiting for nearly 10 months. The symbolic significance of the 559 billion NTD supplementary budget for unmanned systems is to provide ample confidence to businesses, inject critical navigational guidance for non-red supply chain projects such as flight control and chip technology, and ensure the planned establishment of local production capacity to be achieved progressively.
He emphasized that the necessary resources for unmanned systems should have been obtained since last year and expressed hope for swift advocacy. Once the supplementary budget is successfully reviewed and approved by the Legislative Yuan, the Ministry of National Defense will expedite subsequent tendering, bidding processes, and equipment procurement to close the operational gap caused by delays and minimize the impact on defense readiness.
Furthermore, Huang Wen-chi pointed out that with improved retention and recruitment effectiveness in recent years, the supplementary budget includes an increase in salary allocation. Additionally, the 7.3 billion NTD emergency replenishment of ammunition aims to gradually increase the stockpile from 30 days to 120 days. As the frequency of war exercises and training has increased, the ammunition consumption requires replenishment.