Taiwan proposed an additional $4.59bn in defence spending for this year. Credit: Jack Hong/Shutterstock.com.
Taiwan’s cabinet has put forward a supplementary defence budget of T$145.7bn ($4.59bn) for 2026, targeting the acquisition of drones and missile systems amid continued pressure from China.
The proposal, announced on 3 August, would increase spending this year on a range of systems, including the domestically developed Strong Bow anti-tactical ballistic missile and an expansion of Taiwan’s drone fleet.
The cabinet stated that plans initially part of a previous special budget were now being shifted into this new allocation, emphasising there can be “no gap in national defence”.
Key procurement outlined by the cabinet includes more than 600 coastal surveillance and reconnaissance drones, over 40,000 coastal attack drones, and the first batch of more than 100 small suicide drone boats.
The new spending also covers the purchase of the Strong Bow missile system, which the defence ministry has previously identified as a medium-tier, anti-tactical ballistic missile capability.
Taiwan’s defence modernisation efforts have intensified as Beijing continues to assert claims over the self-governed island. In May, the opposition-led parliament approved an additional $25bn in defence spending, but this was limited to US-sourced weapons and fell well short of the government’s original request for broader funding, including support for local systems.
Citing the persistence of security threats, the cabinet reiterated, “National security cannot wait, the defence budget cannot wait, and defence self-reliance cannot wait either.”
The cabinet’s proposal follows the approval last month of a six-year plan to spend $240bn on the expansion of Taiwan’s drone capabilities significantly above a competing government proposal of $210bn, setting annual funding in principle at $40bn.
For 2027 and beyond, the government has laid out plans for overall defence expenditure to surpass T$1tn for the first time.
According to a report by GlobalData, Taiwan allocated an estimated $32.4bn to its defence budget in 2026, marking a 17% compound annual growth rate since 2022.
The data and analytic platform projected the budget will reach approximately $46.9bn by 2031, with cumulative defence spending from 2027 to 2031 expected to total $198.9bn.
The latest funding increase comes as Taiwan, parallel to US allies in Europe, faces calls from Washington to take greater responsibility for its own defence.
President Lai Ching-te has been a vocal proponent of increasing domestic security capability and has continued to reject Beijing’s sovereignty claims, stating that only the island’s population can determine its future.
Parliament’s ongoing debates over the mix of domestic and foreign-sourced systems highlight both the political and strategic challenges in meeting Taiwan’s evolving defence requirements.
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