The army is to upgrade its M60A3 Patton tanks as part of a five-year plan to build up its combat forces, army generals told Control Yuan President Chang Po-ya (張博雅) at a conference in Kinmen County on June 28.
The conference took place after Chang and members of the Control Yuan National Defense and Intelligence Committee toured an outpost guarded by the Lieyu Defense Team of the Kinmen Defense Command.
When questioned by committee members about the army’s tanks becoming obsolete, the generals told them the military is planning to upgrade its M60A3 tanks, although it has yet to decide the type of upgrades and the number of tanks to be upgraded.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The program is in the early stages of conceptual planning, they said, adding that battle requirements would guide the military in identifying what improvements are needed for its tanks.
Although the Ministry of National Defense plans to buy 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks from the US and has tendered a letter of request to Washington, the bulk of the army’s armored units would continue to be equipped with legacy platforms after the service acquires new tanks.
The army’s frontline tank fleet consists of 480 M60A3s, 450 CM11s, or modified M48 turrets mated to M60 chassis, and 250 CM12s, or C11 turrets mated to M48 hulls, according to the Defense Industry Daily Web site.
The fundamental technology used in the tanks dates back to the 1940s and 1950s, and their 105mm rifled gun is mostly unable to cope with modern battle tanks, while their armor plating does not utilize composite materials used in modern armored fighting vehicles.
The army in 2017 expressed an interest in upgrading its M60A3 tanks with 120mm smoothbore guns, which have replaced 105mm guns in most Western armies, as well as new turrets, turret hydraulics and ballistics computers.
However, the project’s price tag of NT$100 million (US$3.21 million at the current exchange rate) per tank apparently put off top brass and it did not appear in the nation’s defense budget in the years since.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS