Taiwan Cabinet Approves NT$295 Billion ($9.3B) Special Procurement Budget — HIMARS, M109A7, Javelin, TOW 2B; HIMARS Deadline 11 Days; Defense Minister Warns of Article 84 Fallback

Taiwan's Cabinet (Executive Yuan) approved a special military procurement budget of NT$295 billion (~US$9.3 billion) on May 20, 2026, encompassing five major weapons systems: M109A7 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and munitions, anti-armor drone missile systems, Javelin anti-tank guided missiles, and TOW 2B anti-armor missiles. The Cabinet approval now sends the budget to the Legislative Yuan, where the Finance Committee has scheduled hearings for the following Monday with a floor vote expected Wednesday-Thursday. The critical constraint is the HIMARS payment deadline of May 31, 2026 — 11 days away — after which the procurement case would be canceled and would need to restart from scratch. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo stated that if the Legislative Yuan fails to pass the budget by May 31, the government would invoke Article 84 of the Budget Act, which authorizes emergency executive payment. The NT$295B package represents Phase 1 procurement aligned with the NT$780B special defense budget passed by the Legislative Yuan on May 8 (KMT-TPP majority, 59-0, 48 abstentions). Taiwan had already received 11 of 29 HIMARS launchers from the December 2022 sale; the remaining 18 launchers plus munitions are included in this procurement tranche. The budget vote timeline is further complicated by President Trump's declaration that the $14B PAC-3/NASAMS package is 'in abeyance' as a 'negotiating chip with China,' creating uncertainty about whether the US side will honor the Foreign Military Sale.