Prototypes of an armored vehicle that the nation is developing have passed their tests and are soon to enter mass production, a military official said yesterday.
Four prototypes of the “Clouded Leopard” eight-wheeled armored vehicle passed the required tests on Friday last week, Army Lieutenant General Fang Mao-hung (房茂宏), head of the Armaments Bureau, told lawmakers.
The vehicles, officially called the Taiwan Infantry Fighting Vehicle (TIFV), have passed all 62 categories in the primary pre-mass production tests while failing only two categories in the secondary pre-mass production tests, Fang said.
Photo courtesy of the Army Command Headquarters
Because the test results have met the required standards, the military has initiated mass production of the vehicle — a variant of the CM-32 Clouded Leopard — equipped with a 30mm chain gun, he said.
A total of 284 vehicles are expected to be made in the coming years, Fang said, without elaborating.
A military official said that Taiwan has ordered Orbital ATK 30mm Mk44 Bushmaster II cannons to be mounted on the armored vehicle.
Compared with the CM-32 models that are armed with 40mm automatic grenade launchers, the 30mm cannon offers better anti-tank capabilities and precision firing of several rounds in rapid succession, the source said on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment on the issue publicly.
Asked if mass production of the CM-32 variant would affect the nation’s plan to buy M1A2 tanks from the US, Army General Yang Hai-ming (楊海明) said it would not, because the new prototype and the M1A2 are complementary.
The military in July announced plans to allocate NT$30 billion (US$969.4 million) to procure 108 M1A2 tanks from the US to replace its aging battle tanks.
Whether the US would approve the arms procurement request is still uncertain.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS