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Southern army base to get new guns

A top-security artillery base in Kaohsiung County which is home to four of the army's largest and most powerful eight-inch towed howitzers will get an enhancement in firepower with new weapons systems next year.

The artillery base, located on a coastal hill in Kaohsiung County's Mitao township, was opened to the press for the first time last week. It was introduced to the public because its troops were selected as one of the army's model units of the year.

The base faces a wide stretch of coastline between Tsoying naval port and Kangshan air base, which is considered one of the most suitable places for amphibious landing by the Chinese military. It is the most important tactical position in the region, playing a key role in stopping enemy soldiers from landing on the shore by means of intensive firepower.

It is guarded by a company under the 43rd artillery command headquartered in Kaohsiung County's Niaosung township. The artillery company, though small, is armed with four of the army's largest and most powerful eight-inch towed howitzers.

With these four howitzers, the company is capable of firing at surface targets more than 16km away. The company has mastered the skill of firing the howitzers through constant live-fire practice.

An officer in the company said the eight-inch howitzers are still very powerful, but that their firepower needs to be enhanced with new weapons systems. The howitzers have been used for several decades. They were given to Taiwan by the US during China's shelling of the offshore Kinmen islands in 1958.

The new weapons systems the company will deploy will be either the domestically built RT-2000 multiple rocket system or the US-made M109A6 155mm self-propelled howitzer.

In countries like the US, large conventional artillery weapons such as the eight-inch howitzer are being replaced by multiple rocket systems like the RT-2000, which can fire over a longer range and at higher frequency.

Whether it receives the RT-2000 or the M109A6, the artillery company in Mitao will move toward automation, a capability it now lacks.

The company still depends mostly on human labor to determine the location and direction of targets. It recently received a French-made ULISS-30 artillery locating system, but is still being trained to use it.

The company does not have any state-of-the-art equipment for the detection of targets. A few years ago the army bought several sets of the US-made AN/TPQ-37 artillery locating radar system, which can pinpoint the positions of enemy artillery in seconds.

These radar systems could be very useful to the army's artillery, but most of them have apparently broken down due to improper use.
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