The military's combined logistics command expects to complete by the end of the year prototypes of two different versions of an advanced 40mm anti-aircraft gun developed in Singapore, defense sources said yesterday.
The towed version is based on a design provided by Singapore, while the truck-mounted version is being designed by the military's logistics command unit.
The truck-mounted version of the gun has much greater mobility and survivability than the towed version.
If the prototypes are a success, their development would also make Taiwan one of the few countries to produce a truck-mounted anti-aircraft gun of this caliber.
The command signed an inter-government contract with Singapore early last year to produce the gun in Taiwan. It has sent a group of technicians to Singapore to learn what is needed to produce the gun.
The command's No. 202 Arsenal, which is responsible for the project, hopes to complete the project by the end of the year, after lawmakers brought forward the timetable for the project.
Military sources said that some lawmakers on the legislature's National Defense Committee, led by a female KMT lawmaker, boycotted the NT$500 million-plus budget for the project for several months.
They didn't approve the budget until the end of last year.
An official with the command, who declined to be identified, said the lawmakers had claimed the command didn't prepare a budgetary plan for it in advance.
"What we understood was that it was only an excuse. The truth is: they wanted us to give up the project. They were trying to promote a similar type of weapons system to the military," the official said.
The weapons system the official referred to was a 35-mm anti-aircraft gun developed by a European country.
The air force already uses a 35mm gun as its main low-altitude air defense, but the system is now 20 years old and needs to be upgraded or replaced.
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