Taipei has cleared 3 percent of GDP, but the uncrewed mass that could decide a fight in the Strait remains trapped in a separate dispute over how money becomes orders.
Prime contractors have joined a record $4.1 billion of venture rounds in 2026, per Dealroom. PitchBook's segment data shows the capital concentrating in autonomy software and systems integration rather than in platforms.
Ukrainian units have ordered more than 500,000 drones and robots by spending combat points earned for verified kills, recon and evacuations. It is the first arms market priced by battlefield results, and the West's contract model cannot run it.
Britain's troubled recon vehicle — a tracked, sensor-heavy armoured scout with a 40mm cased-telescoped cannon, meant to be the British Army's digital eyes. Eight years late and beset by noise-and-vibration injuries that hospitalized crews, it finally began entering service in 2025.
The largest land-warfare show in history opened in Paris on June 15 with the Ukraine war's lessons, cheap mass, autonomy and counter-drone, as the organizing logic of the floor. The clearest signal is who is now selling.
To reach the Pentagon's $1.1 billion Drone Dominance program, Ukraine's combat-shaped drone firms must stand up US legal entities, hand signing authority to US citizens, build on American soil, and open their technical files. The capability crosses the Atlantic; the ownership and the IP stay behind.
Warsaw signed the deals between May 28 and 30 to beat an EU deadline, with about 89% of the money going to domestic firms led by state group PGZ.