The Armaments Bureau yesterday showcased its D2 prototype eight-wheeled-armored combat vehicle to the public for the first time, with a third prototype expected to be finalized next year.
The vehicle will retain an attack efficiency comparable to that of an M1A2T main battle tank with hunter/killer technology, military officials said.
The prototype, jointly developed by the bureau and the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, is based on the eight-wheeled indigenously produced Clouded Leopard armored personnel vehicle.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
It was yesterday tested for its ability to navigate 26.6-degree and 16.7-degree inclined paths, and its high-speed brakes.
While the D1 and D2 prototypes, which were manufactured between 2019 and last year, have passed 40 out of 42 tests and also passed preliminary combat trials in August last year, the army wanted a vehicle with a height of 3m or lower.
The current D2 prototype is 3.3m tall.
The demands have led to a third prototype, expected to cost NT$290 million (US$8.94 million), which is to be completed and tested by next year.
Commenting on the turret, Armaments Bureau 202nd Factory Planning Division Director Colonel Yang Hsi-min (楊錫閔) said Taiwan could produce the entire turret domestically, which would match the caliber size of M60A3 and the CM11 main battle tanks, allowing munitions to be shared across all three vehicles.
Yesterday’s demonstration also included a 500mm-thick armored plate that had been penetrated by a 105mm armor-piercing discarding sabot round launched from 2km away.
The wheeled armored combat vehicle’s turret can fire 800 to 1,000 rounds before needing to be replaced, Yang said.
The wheeled combat vehicle can launch cluster munition anti-personnel rounds, which contain 2,000 iron beads, he said.
Such rounds can be used to defend beachheads and are in line with the Taiwanese military’s asymmetric warfare strategy, he added.
The development team also discovered that some parts of the design can be altered to reduce the height and allow the vehicle to carry 33 rounds instead of 25.
Additional reporting by Wu Che-yu
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