The Ministry of National Defense is building dedicated training ranges and simulated environments to facilitate troop familiarity with incoming military platforms and prepare them for urban combat situations and nuclear, biological and chemical warfare, according to a budget proposal it submitted to the legislature late last month.
The ministry has allocated NT$20 million (US$621,350) of the military’s budget for next year to the program, of which NT$9.24 million would be used to construct training grounds to simulate urban combat and nuclear, biological and chemical warfare.
The construction projects are expected to be concluded by 2026, the budget proposal said.
Photo: Huang Chin-hsuan, Taipei Times
The army said an additional NT$12.91 billion, allotted for next year and 2026, would go toward building light-weapons training ranges and provide sufficient ranges to adequately train soldiers.
The ranges would be equipped with state-of-the-art monitoring systems to assist soldiers with posture and accuracy, it said.
In addition, the army’s 203rd Brigade and 104th Brigade have also built a training range for grenade throwing and anti-armor training, it said.
Four new training grounds would also be built to improve the mental fortitude of soldiers, the army said, adding that it is also creating facilities to help serving and reservist forces adjust to high-pressure environments.
Separately, the ministry’s national military museum project, which has been under construction since 2015, is expected to be completed next year.
The museum would replace the now-shuttered Republic of China Armed Forces Museum.
The Executive Yuan originally approved a NT$4.62 billion budget for the program, but the ministry included extra budget items from 2021 through next year to purchase archiving and research equipment totaling NT$839 million, bringing the total project budget to NT$5.34 billion.
The seven-story building, with three levels underground, is expected to be completed by Aug. 18 next year.
Ricky Liu and Associates designed the building, with Ricky Liu (劉培森) as the chief architect, while Hung Sheng Construction and Co, managed by Kuo Pei-hung (郭倍宏), was brought on for the construction.
Additional reporting by CNA
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