The delivery of the first 38 M1A2T Abrams tanks, originally slated for around the middle of the year, might be delayed to the fourth quarter, as the US military reportedly plans to invite Taiwan to participate in joint exercises in the second half of the year, a source in the know in the military said yesterday.
The monthly production rate for the baseline M1A2 model stood at about four, so by that calculation, about 30 M1A2Ts should have been manufactured and delivered to the Taiwanese military for trial and training, the source said.
About 18 M1A2Ts are expected to be used at the exercise, and the delivery of the first batch of tanks would suffer further delays until the manufacturers produce more units, they said.
Photo: AFP
The Army Command Headquarters said that all Republic of China Army military exercises with foreign nations are pre-planned and declined to comment further on the issue.
The delivery process is on schedule and construction of a shooting range at Kengzikou (坑子口) in Hsinchu County is being adjusted accordingly, the army added.
The tank deal cost NT$40.5 billion (US$1.26 billion) and was to be delivered to Taiwan over three years. The first batch of 38 units is expected to arrive this year, 42 next year and the final 28 in 2026.
The source said that compared to in-service MBTs with 105mm tank guns, the M1A2T’s 120mm tank gun is a massive improvement.
The new tanks would primarily be deployed in northern Taiwan to strengthen defenses around the nation’s political and economic centers and shoreline defense, the source added.
As the tanks are still being manufactured, training for the tank crew and instructors, as well as the construction of barracks and training grounds, are being held concurrently, the source said.
The military is in talks with Northrop Grumman and it is increasingly likely that the military would be able to establish factories in Taiwan to produce the 120mm rounds used by the tanks, they added.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
RSS