Legislative Yuan Authorizes Signing of Four Military Procurement Letters of Offer and Acceptance; Ministry of National Defense Clarifies Procedures for the Special Defense Act

ROC Ministry of National Defense

2026.03.13

Issuing Authority：Administration Office

Ministry of National Defense Press Release

Time: 1330 hours, March 13, 2026

In response to the Legislative Yuan’s passage of authorization for the Ministry of National Defense to sign the Letters of Offer and Acceptance for four military procurement cases—the “M109A7 Self-Propelled Howitzer,” “HIMARS Multiple Launch Rocket System,” “TOW 2B Anti-Armor Missile,” and “Javelin Anti-Armor Missile”—to enable the ROC Armed Forces to acquire key defensive combat capabilities as early as possible, the Ministry of National Defense expressed its gratitude today (March 13). However, regarding the Taiwan People’s Party caucus amendment motion that mentioned the draft special defense act information “lacked transparency” and that major military procurement “could not be supervised through normal democratic procedures,” the Ministry of National Defense clarified as follows:

1.After the Executive Yuan submitted the draft “Special Act on Procurement for Strengthening Defense Resilience and Asymmetric Warfare Capabilities” to the Legislative Yuan for review on November 27, 2025, the Ministry of National Defense immediately arranged staff to brief the offices of members from all caucuses on the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. Before the draft was referred to committee, a classified briefing was conducted at the Legislative Yuan on January 19, 2026, explaining the background of the allocation, planning, and expected benefits after acquisition, with the aim of expediting referral to committee.

2.On January 27, 2026, the Ministry of National Defense held a press conference specifically addressing the “Special Act on Safeguarding National Security and Strengthening Asymmetric Warfare Capabilities Procurement” proposed by the Taiwan People’s Party caucus. It explained in detail the ROC Armed Forces’ weapons acquisition procedures, U.S. arms sales processes, and the differences between the Executive Yuan version and the Taiwan People’s Party caucus version, seeking support.

3.On February 11, 2026, President Lai Ching-te personally led Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung, Chief of the General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu, and the three service commanders to hold a press conference, explaining the necessity and urgency of the special budget, and once again urging the Legislative Yuan to refer the bill to committee for substantive review as soon as possible.

4.On March 6, 2026, after the Legislative Yuan agreed to refer the act to committee for review, Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung led key officers to brief each caucus individually on the importance of the Executive Yuan’s draft special act, and earnestly requested agreement to authorize the Ministry of National Defense to sign the Letter of Offer and Acceptance for cases including the “M109A7 Self-Propelled Howitzer” in advance.

The Ministry of National Defense emphasized that the Executive Yuan’s draft “Special Act on Procurement for Strengthening Defense Resilience and Asymmetric Warfare Capabilities” had undergone rigorous project initiation procedures and met the operational requirements of the ROC Armed Forces. It had already confirmed supply willingness, export licensing, production capacity scheduling, and other key factors, and had received repeated affirmation and support from the U.S. Government and Congress. The Ministry of National Defense would continue to communicate and seek support from the Legislative Yuan and the public. Claims such as “political rhetoric covering up administrative incompetence” were not factual.